Admiring Your Serve

When my husband David and I were first married, we played on a co-ed volleyball team. David, of course was an excellent player. I had never played on a team before and was pretty green but I could serve the volleyball over the net.

I served the old-fashioned way with my arm outstretched. There was no fancy tossing the ball into the air and and hitting it as it came down. One of the coaches called it a Volkswagen Serve and wanted me to learn the Cadillac version.

But I knew what worked for me and stuck with it. I was able to make a lot of points with that Volkswagen Serve.

David told me once that I admired my serve too much and I was losing valuable seconds just watching the ball go over to the other side.

The past few weeks, we have witnessed people in the news admiring their serve. I won't mention names, but the amount of attention that they have been given is appalling. Their selfish behavior has cost other people their jobs. And the sad thing is that they will remain wealthy and self-indulgent. As for the people that you don't see on the news, they are at the unemployment office.

It is very easy to become self-involved if a person has an admiring audience. They can be willing to overlook any flaws in your performance as long as you make the points.

It took me forever to be a supporting team member in volleyball. I didn't know how to "bump" the ball or pass it over to another player so that they could slam it over the net. My motives were not selfish, but inept.

History has shown us many individuals who "admired" their serve. Some of them were Emperors or Kings and Queens. Their fate is well-documented.

In the crash of 1929, men found themselves driving a luxury car and drinking champagne on one day and jumping out of windows or selling apples on the corner the next.

Most of us know that we will never win a shiny trophy or gold medal and that our serve may be just a Volkswagen instead of a Cadillac.

But the game of life is more than just awards or abilities. Being an American means getting back into the game and supporting your fellow players. It means that even if your serve goes over the net, your team can still lose the point if everyone thinks that someone else is getting the ball.

We are facing some very difficult decisions ahead as Americans. The time for silly and foolish endeavors has passed. We must now put away our childish whims and decide that the cause of preserving America as a nation is bigger than ourselves. Our lives depend on it.