WACKY WEDNESDAY WISDOM: The Answer to Everything

     As a college baseball coach, I am sometimes asked by a member of the press to provide a quote after a game. Normally the reporter will prompt me by making a few observations and statements of their own with the purpose of generating a discussion. This back and forth is designed to illicit a worthy quote or two from me, the coach.
     To be honest, I don't really need a prompt. Stick a tape recorder in front of my face (Yes, I prefer a tape recorder because it assures, or at least it should, that I won't be misquoted) and ask me what's on my mind. I'll spill my guts. After all, I've got a little bit of journalist in me and I have a pretty good idea what reporters are looking for.
     I understand that the reporter has a job to do regardless of my mood. Whether we have won or lost is irrelevant to his or her responsibility to get a quote for the newspaper. So I try to accommodate them. And I try to do it politely, even when I'm pouting or seething about an ugly loss.
     Here's what I know about all this. People who read newspapers want something fresh. They don't want to read the same quotes over and over. When coaches rattle off all the usual cliches, reporters are forced to live on the corner of mundane and boring, printing stuff we've all heard a million times.
     Here are some examples:

"We played hard but they were the better team tonight."
"We've just got to stick to what we do and not worry about anything else."
"We can't try to do too much. We've got to keep it simple."
"We've got to forget this one and move on to the next one."
"You can't make five errors and expect to win."
"You can't get only three hits and expect to win."
"We didn't deserve to win tonight."
"Yes, he got three hits, but really it was a team effort."
"We're getting better but we're still a long way from where we need to be."
"We hit the ball hard, we just hit it right at people."
(And the all time most overused cliche ever- "We've just got to take it one game at a time."

     I'll admit I've fallen into the traps listed above occasionally. But to be honest, a lot of the cliches ring true at times. As a team, you really do have to take it one game at a time. You can't get too high or too low with any win or loss. Oops, there's another cliche. Sorry.
     However, there is one cliche that has showed up within the last decade that I am now addicted to. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this particular quote, I feel the need to provide a reporter/coach scenario:

Reporter: "Hey Coach, it looked like your guys were out of sync out there tonight. Your pitching struggled to finish innings and your hitters looked confused at the plate. You've lost six in a row now and you've only scored three runs in those six games and you've allowed thirty seven. You've got injuries at key positions and your schedule gets even tougher the next two weeks. What are your thoughts?
Coach: "Well . . . it is what it is."

     This is the best quote ever invented. So simple yet so true. So few words yet so much said. What does it mean? It means whatever you want it to mean. It is a reminder that things are the way they are and talking about them, dissecting them, discussing them, and dwelling on them doesn't change things.
Think of all the times the "it is what it is" reply could come in handy, not just in sports, but in life.
I shall share a few examples:
Someone: "You've gained too much weight and you're hairline is rapidly receding."
You: "It is what it is."
Someone: "Your wife left you for a guy in prison and now I hear you're losing your job."
You: "It is what it is."
Someone: "Wow, I feel really bad about them finding all that nuclear toxic waste flowing just beneath your house that you never knew about before."
You: "It is what it is."

     You get the drift. First of all, if that Someone exists in your life, kick them out of it. Next, understand that you don't have to have an answer to everything. That's what God is for. In fact, one of His most simple answers to a question occurs in Exodus 3:14 when Moses asks God how he should reply when the people ask who has sent him. God answers, "I Am Who I Am." I love that. The Great I Am is who He is and needs no further explanation.
     Proverbs 3:6 says we don't need to lean on our own understanding when it comes to figuring everything out. We don't have to have all the answers. We're allowed to shrug our shoulders at times. Someone (maybe the same Someone from the quotes above) may ask, "How can you be a Christian and not know _______ (fill in the blank)." You can reply, "I'm a follower of God, but I'm not God. He has all the answers, I don't."

Someone: "Well that's not fair. You're playing both ends against the middle. The things you understand, you proclaim with confidence. And the things you don't understand, you just brush them off and claim only God can answer those. That seems too convenient."
You: "It is what it is."