Coach Mahr - Godspeed and Guideposts for Your Journey

Have you ever noticed how casually we say goodbye? "See you later." "Take care." Or how we end our communications with “Sincerely yours” and “Best Regards.” They're pleasant enough, but they don't really say much. For years now, I've ended conversations differently. My salutation is ..."Rejoice and Godspeed." Those three words are far more than a farewe...

I have always believed the old saying: "Defense wins championships." And in sports, that's often true. But over the years I've come to realize something important: Defense may win championships, but offense is what moves life forward. Think about it. A defender reacts. An offensive player initiates. A defender responds to circumstances. An offensive player creates opportunities...

We had a sign in the high school football locker room, “Discipline is not what I do to you, it is what I do for you”. As a high school football coach, an unexpected requirement of the job was to convince young men that discipline is not a bad word. Until that point in their life for most, discipline had become synonymous with punishment. When they hear the word discipline from a football coach, th...

“With the help of thy grace” – we say it often or at least we should as it is in the Act of Contrition. "I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin." Interestingly, the phrase “firmly resolve” means having a strong, unwavering determination, commitment, or fixed purpose to do something. It indicates a person has made a firm, final d...

“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” What if the very things that irritate us. The moments that frustrate us. The friction we feel. The disappointments we didn’t see coming. What if those are the exact tools God is using to refine us? We live in a culture that avoids discomfort at all costs. We numb it. We cancel it. We run from it. But Scripture tells us somethin...

Imagine sitting in a concert hall. The musicians are all there - talented, trained, accomplished. The violinists are ready. The brass section is polished. The percussionists are dialed in. But there’s no shared direction. Everyone starts playing their own piece. Individually, it might sound impressive. But together? It’s just noise. Now imagine the same group, same people, same instruments, but th...

Are we living life as a follower… or as a participant? There’s a difference. To follow means to come behind, accept direction, comply with what someone else sets in motion. To join means something deeper. To connect. To unite. To become part of the mission. I was reminded of that distinction years ago when I heard Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly speak at a Fellowship of Christian Athletes dinne...

What if the thing holding us back in life isn’t that we’re moving too slowly—but that our steps are too big? Most of us feel pressure to cover ground; Fix it fast, Get there now, Make decisions quickly, Move on to what’s next. But what if speed isn’t the issue at all? Years ago, my wife and I followed through on something we’d talked about for over twenty years—taking dance lessons. I instinctivel...

A question for self-reflection is - “Who’s Walking With Us?” After a not-so-great encounter with law enforcement when I was a sophomore in High School, my father informed me of his concerns about my questionable talent recognition in friends and acquaintances. He used the expression, "You are measured by the company you keep." That incident changed my trajectory. I’d been running with th...

Every year, the phrase, “Peace on Earth, good will toward men” shows up again and again on Christmas cards, banners, and in songs. Tt comes straight from Luke’s Gospel where the angels announce the birth of Jesus to shepherds in a dark field. But here’s the honest question, were the angels wrong? Why does the world still feel so loud? So divided? So anxious? We’ve got more technology than ever; mo...

Preparation is monumental. They say that “Proper preparation prevents poor performance.” Whether it is a sporting event, the workweek, or something as simple as weekend yardwork or household chores, we will not perform at a high level if we don’t go in prepared. The ratio of time that go into preparation as opposed to performance is staggering. Think about landing a plane under emergency circumsta...

We’ve been taught since we were old enough to talk, the importance of saying “thank you.” We teach our children from the time they could put a crayon to paper, the importance of a thank you note. There are times when saying or writing “thanks”, although important, isn’t enough. Being thankful by “doing” thanks is needed and essential. Let thanks be always on our lips and, more importantly, in our...

Are we more about “what we do” than “who we are”? The world likes to define who we are by what we do and accomplish, which is totally backwards. What we do should flow from who we are. While Doing and Being are related, it is the order they come in that is critical. If we define ourselves by what we have done (achievements, accomplishments) then we place our value (self-worth) in the hands of othe...

Ordinary things, days, events, people, etc., without something noteworthy tied to them will fade from memory and become part of the blur. What can’t be remembered is forgotten. What is forgotten never gets deposited into our memory banks. What doesn’t get deposited is that which does not strike a chord. Extraordinary things are another story. There is no generic definition of extraordinary, notewo...

"If you squeeze a tube of toothpaste, what comes out?” Many times, I stood in front of high school and college students and asked that very question. After some quizzical looks, I hear mumbled answers, “toothpaste.” I next ask “Why?” “Because you squeezed the tube and that is what was put there in the first place.” This is one of my better character lessons. Goes back to high school. It has s...

If you are asking who is my neighbor, you are asking the wrong question. In the Good Samaritan parable, Jesus never directly answers the question, who is my neighbor. Instead, he turns it around by asking “who was neighbor to the beaten man.” We should not be worried about who is our neighbor, but who we can be neighbor to. The emphasis that Jesus places is not about knowing one’s neighbor, but ab...

What good does paint do in the can? It was created to be used; to provide color, to seal, to cover up scuff marks, to create art and express ourselves. “The paint in the can needs to be applied.”  We can be averse to taking action. Some of us fall victim to ‘paralysis by analysis.’ Maybe the fear of being wrong impedes us. Maybe we feel that we would not apply the paint properly. We need to act ev...

This is Yoda‘s memorable line from the second Start Wars movie, “Empire Strikes Back.” There is so much more to the line than its catchy symbolism. It has deep philosophical meaning. When someone says, "I'll try..." it gives the person an out. Trying lets failure be an acceptable option. To prevent ourselves from being exposed to the stigma of failure, we use words like “well I trie...

 Over a dozen years ago, I was asked by a friend to be a speaker at a 5th grade farewell ceremony when their original speaker canceled at the last minute. Being a High School football coach who did character training sessions, she felt I could come up with something on short notice. It obviously went well as I was invited back 10 years straight to deliver the exact same speech. Fortunately for me,...

I have the pleasure of doing and hosting podcasts for my church highlighting our various ministries. During the most recent podcast with our Haitian Ministry, I touched on the phrase “standing in the gap.” It was front of mind as in one of my blogs I reference Jackson Browne’s song, “Standing in the Breach,” that uses the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake as a rallying cry of the need to “ben...

If you are a follower of Coach Mahr at all, then you know that I love the analogy of life being a journey and our need to focus on that journey and not the destination. This perspective started back in High School when my Dad shared with me the Robert Hastings essay called “The Station.” During this Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church I am reflecting on where I am in my journey and what lies ahead...

A community or society may at times come together and simultaneously communicate the same thought and participate in the same action. People within a group feel united in a more intense way when they come together for unique experiences, a “sensation of sacredness” that happens when we are a part of something bigger than us.  During these experiences, our focus shifts from self to group. It is mor...

It is early February so let’s discuss the furry rodent that sticks its head out of the ground to tell us how much longer winter will last. Groundhog Day. Groundhog Day is also the same day as “Candlemas Day” and the two are related. And, yes, Groundhog Day has its roots in the Bible.

Our lives are a collection of ‘nows.’ A collection of moments. A collection of choices, failures, successes, ups, and downs. Each one is a piece of a bigger picture, like a mosaic, an image comprised of thousands of smaller colored tiles. Life is a mosaic of moments. Mosaics will include sudden moments of significance, moments we know are coming, unplanned moments that catch us off-guard, moments...

Athletics and athletes were created in Greece. Purpose was to train citizens to strive for excellence, not merely victory. Excellence in every area.     To improve society. Sports teach us to persevere and push through, something we need in our faith. We can’t finish strong without pushing through somewhere along the way. We all like to win. Competing to win is good. However, the value derived fro...