Down Goes Frazier! Down Goes Frazier!! Down Goes Frazier!!!

You know I think that I grew up during one of the most exciting times for professional boxing, the "sweet science".  When I was a kid there were legends roaming the earth.  There were blood fueds between camps, managers and fighters.  There were names like Clay/Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Norton and later Holmes.

The fights that these guys had were epic, and of course Howard Cosell was always at Ring Side to call the action for the Wide World of Sports (thats what we called ESPN back in the day). The first Foreman VS Frazier fight was something to watch. Although Joe Frazier got completely beaten up and was knocked down 4 times in the first round alone and 7 in two rounds, before the fight was stopped, Frazier just kept getting back up.  If you watch the video on Youtube you will see this warrior get hammered by the giant Foreman and go down to the canvas and then on shakey legs get back up and begin again.

Some say that Frazier took such a beating because of a difficult fight with Ali the previous year. It takes a warrior a while to recover from some battles.  Was he ill-prepared? Was he still feeling the effects of the Ali fight and just didnt have everything he needed? or was he just over-matched.  These men fought 2 more times and the results were the same although the fights were much different.  In the first fight in Jamaica the action started quickly and didnt stop till the referee waved his hands over a staggering Frazier - its over.  The words of Cosell at the first knock down are still clear in my memory. It was an epic fight. EPIC!

Recently I found my self, as it were, on the canvas looking around wondering what had just happened (in a spiritual sense). Whether it was a left or a right that took me down is not imporant, really, other than I need to stay away from that hand! On the ground/canvas/floor with my ears ringing, my vision blurred and no clear recollection of how I got to this place a person is faced with only a few choices.

That is something about life, when it gets really hard sometimes (maybe everytime) the heat of those moments seems to boil away the trivial and silly options. What remains are usually two simple courses of action.  Get Up or Stay Down.  I know I am over simplifying this by a ton, but really when it comes right down to it those are the choices.  The dude that knocked you down is not gone, at least not in this kind of fight. He is standing fists clenched, glaring defiantly at you with disdain telling you with his stare to Stay Down or I will put you back Down!!!!!

The problem is, staying down doesnt make the situation much better.  You didnt get into the ring not knowing that this was where a fight was going to take place. You knew that your opponent was skilled and ready, even if you werent.  This may not have been the first meeting and likely will not be the last.  There is not, or should not be much mystery, that this will be war.  If you stay down the moment will pass and the physical beating may stop. But that is about the end of the benefits list.  You will be stalked by even bigger foes like regret, shame, condemnation, anger, pity and depression.   Stay down and let the count go to 10 and its over right?  Not by a long shot.

As I said I got put onto my backside recently and as the count went up, 3-4-5-6, it occurred to me that although I was hurt, I was not hurt that bad.  Micah 7:8(-9,10) is a boxer/fighters/warriors verse.  I like to read the Word in a variety of translations not to find a doctrinal loophole but to see and hear the expression of the Word in multiple forms and styles.   I am not a big The Message translation fan but I do like these verses, "Don't, enemy, crow over me. 
   I'm down, but I'm not out.
I'm sitting in the dark right now, 
   but God is my light.
I can take God's punishing rage. 
   I deserve it—I sinned.
But it's not forever. He's on my side 
   and is going to get me out of this.
He'll turn on the lights and show me his ways. 
   I'll see the whole picture and how right he is.
And my enemy will see it, too, 
   and be discredited—yes, disgraced!
This enemy who kept taunting, 
   "So where is this God of yours?"
I'm going to see it with these, my own eyes— 
   my enemy disgraced, trash in the gutter.

I am down but I am not out. The KJV says When I fall, I shall arise!  Proverbs 24:16 also says that "A just man falls 7 times, and rises up again.  Look too at Job 5:19, Psalm 34:19 and 37:24 to get the message.  So as the count reached 6 I heard that inner Voice say, "This isnt over!You're not done! Get Up!" and I got up.  Stars over my head, ears ringing and unsteady legs but I got UP!  I will do what I need to do to stay away from that punch again, I WILL DO WHAT MUST! but it had to start with getting up. 

I dont know if this will do anything for anyone, but for me after I took a hard blow to the chin that old Cosell recording started up in my thinking. Down Goes Frazier, Down Goes Olson!! Down Goes Jim!!! and I decided, by the Grace of God to get back up.  This is a fight I expect to go on till Jesus comes but I know a thing or two now that I didnt before. Or maybe I believe those things now?  Do Not Rejoice Over Me O Mine Enemy, For When I Fall I Shall Arise!