RED ROVER, RED ROVER, SEND SOMEONE RIGHT OVER


 








"Red Rover, Red Rover, send ------right over."  That little ditty reminds me of the school playground or of humid, lazy days  when boredom finally led to ingenuity.   Even to this day, I habitually call my wayward dog Rover or fondly tag  someone as Rover when they unknowingly did something silly. (Little did I know that it is a Norwegian word that means "pirate." How very brash of the British to dare the Norwegians to come right over.  The Vikings were a fierce people.)   The strategy of the game is that two teams line up on opposing sides facing each other, and when one side calls out "Red rover, red rover, let (say name of player) right over, that opposing player runs as hard as possible to break the chain  the other team has formed with their locked hands. If the player called is unable to break the chain, then he joins the team. Yet, if he is able to break the link, he gets to choose someone to take back to his team.  This continues until there is only one player left on a team who is unable to break the link.

Parents and teachers see the inherent danger of such a game. Moments after the teams were picked, like most teammates, I began to assess the players, recognizing that some kids would never be able to break a chain  because of their size.  Even worse, I feared the imminent pain the weaker kids would endure.  Some players would play so cutthroat that unsuspecting victims would run into their chain only to practically have the wind knocked out of them with a fist or be clotheslined;  of course, the other team always proclaimed its innocence. Some tenacious, fearless players ran so hard into the other team, trying to inflict pain on their opponents hands, only to bounce off and fall quickly and forcibly to the ground. Newton's laws of motion became real life lessons that everything has an equal and opposite reaction.  The strong guys never admitted pain, but we girls that endured --much to their chagrin-- always had to trumpet the battle cry and rally the team as we momentarily shook out our hands and reveled in our small victory.   Of course, I always hated when friends on the team would act as if the other team broke their hands and just easily let go of their hands allowing the team chain to be broken, even sometimes feigning pain or sympathy.  To me, that almost amounts to treason.  However, often there would be a surprise, a seeming small fry would pull strategy and break the chain between its weakest people link.

Today, I was harshly reminded of the parallels of this simple game.  The wind was  knocked out of us as I held breath and heart of a good friend standing strong in life when she was hit with the news that her son spent the night in jail because he got a DUI.   Memories of her first husband's death to driving while intoxicated flashed through her thoughts. I know that she wished she could have screamed to get his attention "Red Rover, Red Rover...." and that he would have chosen to run right over in her direction to her arms.  She would have held strong and not let him break through to the ground. Alcohol's pain and lies seem so obvious to us standing on this line.  But his enemy is cutthroat; the wind was knocked out of her son and the bruises of life's fists lie beneath the surface. We  stand and watch as he regains his balance and wonder what of life's lessons he will chose to heed from this.  He is learning that all life's actions do have a consequence of equal enormity. As for us, we are learning that we will continue to stand unwaveringly on the solid ground of truth, hands woven together in unceasing prayer and purpose,  hearts impermeable to the enemy's chanting taunts.

Perhaps, the seemingly saddest moment of  Red Rover is when the last person is left to battle alone against the other team and finally succumbs.  But, this is not so in our case. When our line of defense stops him from running, it will be my friend's greatest joy. The Holy Spirit will continue to bind our hearts and hands as an impenetrable shield as we cry in unified victory  "Red Rover, Red Rover send -----right over." 






  

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