My way or Jesus' way? That is the question.

After Easter I look for resurrection stories; not great big things, though they're nice, but the little challenges where we have to stay attentive to notice.One of my bike riding buddies has found himself the coach of his son's under 8s soccer team.As the sun sets earlier and earlier, training now takes place at twilight under lights. My buddy and a bunch of skinny kids with their spaghetti legs sticking out of their too big shorts.My buddy's little bloke reckons dad is such a legend.Dad was heading out to training the other evening, orange cones under arms, with his pint sized charges in tow, sun sinking in the west. He headed for a section of turf that the lights illuminated and started to throw down his cone shaped goal posts only to be colared by the grim faced coach of the under 10s.  The other coach ordered him off his patch.  My affable buddy, head coach of the under 8s and hero worshiped dad of nipper son set about making peace, exhorting the benefits of sharing, reminding that all represent the same club and reasoning that there is only so much lit turf to use. But under 10 coach was having none of it.It dawned on my buddy that this was a show down or a back down. No other options were presenting themselves. 20 spaghetti legged nippers were watching on.My buddy looked at oppositional bully, then at the kids and chose to die!He picked up his cones and herded his charges in to the dark to practice their dribbling.There is no happy ending. There is only the eternal promise that those of us who die with him shall also rise with him. The Saviour who could have fired up the divine ray gun and zapped us all chose to become "nothing", the New Testament says, to bring us to God. Right now the bodily resurrection belongs to Jesus. His promise is that it is ours as well, however it looks to others. The winner the other night at soccer practice is only a Pyrric winner. He was the Greek General who never lost a battle but never won a war.My way or Jesus' way, that is the question?In the King's AdventureMalcolm