"Thai Soccer Coach Gives Team Greatest Victory Ever"

That would be my headline.

Trapped in a dark cave for more than 2 weeks with little food, water, or light, a dozen young boys should have simply freaked out, flipped out, and burned out.

But as you may have heard, their coach, a former Buddhist monk, wisely assessed the situation and used his skills in meditation and prayer to invite his boys into quiet contemplation, which lowered their heart and breathing rates, conserving energy and resources. This bought them precious time for rescuers to figure out how to bring them to safety.

Coach Ek is credited with saving these lives - and with inspiring us all with a real-life lesson in the importance of keeping focused, calm, and centered on that force which is saving us too.

This story parallels our Sunday gospel, that familiar and cautionary tale of King Herod’s absurd execution of John the Baptist. 

Herod, overcome with the wine, women, and revelry, makes a stupid oath that traps him into executing John. Herod gives in to peer pressure, the nagging of his wife, and his own shameful pride that renders himself helpless against obeying his conscience.

In the overlap of these stories you and I see the importance of centering.

When you and I center ourselves on Jesus, the life-giver, whose message of calm in the storm, clarity among the distraction, and peace in the moment, we cultivate the power we need to stand up to the things that handcuffed Herod.

Our challenge is to do it - to take that time - to stand up to the head-spinning distraction and monolithic humanism that surrounds us - and to put more Jesus-time into our lives. How might we do that today?

After all, centering ourselves both calms us and saves us.