I didn’t do my best in church this past Sunday.
I was the member of the congregation chosen to read the lessons.
No, I did not stumble and bumble my way through the lessons. I read quite fluently.
However, I read the wrong lesson.
I was supposed to read from the 45th chapter of Isiah. Instead, I read from Chapter 25.
There was nothing ugly about the read. It came from the right book of the bible. Just the wrong chapter.
It was a miscue on my part.
While some members of the congregation were shaking their heads, I’m sure God was smiling.
He gets it.
Wrong chapter, right result.
His word was spread.
This past Saturday — according to some — the Nebraska Cornhusker football team didn’t do their best.
An 11-point favorite, the Huskers won by only eight points over Northwestern.
It was a beautiful sun-splashed Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
However, the fan response afterword:
It was an ugly win thanks to several miscues and stumbles.
I remember a similar “ugly” win for the Big Red in a game played 47 years ago.
It was a beautiful, sunbaked Saturday as well.
On October 2, 1976, as I watched from section 36, row 53, Nebraska trotted onto Memorial Stadium’s Astroturf a double-digit favorite to defeat the Miami Hurricanes.
Tom Osborne’s fifth-ranked Huskers stumbled its way through the first half and trailed at halftime, 6-0.
76,155 fans grumbled.
In the third quarter, the red-clad discontent turned to cheers as NU took its first lead, 7-6, on a 32-yard TD pass from Vince Ferragamo to Chuck Malito.
Early in the fourth quarter, Miami regained the lead, 9-7, on a 51-yard field goal.
A Nebraska field goal with six minutes left in the game was the winning play, as NU took the lead, 10-9.
An icing on the cake touchdown came with 3:21 remaining, when Ferragamo connected with split end Dave Shamblin for 23 yards.
A side note: Ferragamo and Shamblin were natives of California.
Final score: Nebraska 17, Miami 9
A so-called ugly win.
I left the stadium smiling.
Even at age 17, I got it.
It was the right result.
Just a few days ago, two Nebraskans connected for an icing on the cake fourth quarter touchdown when Kearney Catholic’s Heinrich Haarberg connected with Lincoln East’s Malachi Coleman for 44 yards.
Final score: Nebraska 17, Northwestern 9.
An “ugly” win due to the Huskers three fumbles and two interceptions.
I walked away from my television smiling.
As a 64-year-old, I still get it.
It was the right result.
Life seems to be full of right results, even when we stumble.