20-0: THE END OF AN ERA

                                                          

I CRIED! Mind you, I did not boohoo like a child whose lollypop had been stolen by a bully, neither was it a torrential downpour akin to a desert storm. No, the tears slowly filled my eyes like sweet drops of palm wine filling a gourd, and then the gourd broke and filled my being with intoxicating and overwhelming emotions. The tears over flooded the banks of my eyes similar to a mangrove stream during the rains and clung to my lashes like lead weights which refused to drop. I felt like an overcast sky that was indecisive about shedding its watery load.

Wrestlemania 28 was sensational, to me the much hyped “once in a lifetime” fight between John Cena and the Rock did not meet the mark even though both men gave it their best. Something was missing that I cannot place my hands on. I personally think the Rock has gone past his best wrestling days. CM Punk and Chris Jericho were also cool but the matchup that stole the show was the one between The Undertaker and Triple H. It presumably might turn out to be Undertaker’s last fight hence the tag, “the end of an era”. And in the battle the Undertaker got his twentieth Wrestlemania victory, making it 20-0.

It was this match that made me cry. Over the years, different matches have made me go through a range of sentiments; I was deliriously euphoric when Ricky “The dragon” Steamboat beat Machoman “Randy” Savage in Wrestlemania 3, miserably sad when Hulk Hogan lost to the Ultimate Warrior in Wrestlemania 6 and completely heartbroken when Shawn Michaels defeated Bret “The Hitman” Hart in Wrestlemania 12 and anytime Jeff Hardy loses but no bout has ever made me cry.

Hold your horses bro! Before you brand my post as jejune for becoming schmaltzy over a scripted and stage managed sport, please hear me out. This is not necessarily about the sport/entertainment but it was about the performance of the two men. All the matches that night were most likely scripted about but these two men stood out over others like the Andes over mole hills. They gave that match their best shot. No one could have asked for more. If it turns out to be The Taker’s last bout, then no exit in the annals of wrestling can be more glorious.

Potential, purpose and Leadership Guru Dr. Myles Munroe always says that we should die empty, meaning we should live to the best of our abilities, give everything in us to this life so that we would not add to the wealth of the cemetery by joining hordes of others who led a mediocre life and carried the potential inside them to the grave. The greatest missionary that ever lived said he had been poured forth like a drink because before he died, he had emptied himself of his purpose of being. Jesus before giving up his ghost said “it is finished” and out of him gushed out his life juice, liters of blood. The Undertaker and Triple H gave their all, threw everything into the grueling mix, blood, sweat, name it. They had left footprints in the eternal sands of wrestling history which the winds of time would never erase. That day it was not about victor nor vanquished, it was about a sterling performance. And performance is what separates the sublime from the mundane.

Life is scripted for everybody, as a great Hebrew king made us know. He said all the days of his life had been chronicled by God ever before he was born. So, since the pages of our lives have been written by Originator of life, what now makes the difference is what we put in.  Just like in the movies where everything is written before the acting but some thespians separate themselves from the pack by giving all they have and go ahead to win Oscars like Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight (I keep citing that).

As those two future WWE Hall of famers carried their battered and bruised bodies from the ring that day to the thunderous applause of 78, 000 plus fans within the stadium in Miami and millions all over the world, I cried when I thought of how I will exit the grand stage. Russell Crowe in the Gladiator said “the things we do on this earth echoes on the shores of eternity”. Will I exit in a blaze of glory like Elijah on chariots of fire? Will the witnesses both present and those gone before applaud my performance? Will the King give me a standing ovation the way he did Stephen the martyr showing that I had done a good job and that He approves?

Will I exit the squared circle of life being fully persuaded that I had worshipped God with my all? Would I make the hall of fame in the golden corridors of heaven? Would I have my wife’s and my children’s commendation that I was the best husband and father they could ever have. Would I have used my talents and my potential to the hilt? Would I have managed my finances judiciously? Would I have made history, given and left a legacy for the world I would be leaving behind? Will I be able to say this like Paul the Missionary……..?

AS FOR ME, I FEEL THE LAST DROPS OF MY LIFE ARE BEING POURED OUT FOR GOD. I HAVE FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT, I HAVE FINISHED MY COURSE, I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH. FINALLY THERE IS LAID UP FOR ME A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS………………………..