Dwight's Little Light

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

For those of you who don't care about such things, the NBA All-Star game is being held in Sin City, Las Vegas, this year. As if the NBA didn't have a bad enough reputation already =fights, public divorces, players demanding trades, illegitimate children. No wonder I'm one of the only NBA fans left. Putting these young multi-millionaires in a place where literally every vice is for sale can't lead to anything good. Or so one would think.

In order for the NBA to make their All-Star Game into more of an event (and make more money), the festivities begin on Friday night when the rookies play the sophomores and continues on Saturday night for the 3-Point Shootout and Slam-Dunk Contest (as well as some other games that no one cares about). This is basically just a time for tremendous athletes to show off and for others to see and be seen. It is about having good seats and having a lot of bling.

So, when you see something other than that, its something to pay attention to. In the dunk contest, one of the contestants, Dwight Howard, performed a dunk that was (in my opinion) not highly regarded enough by the judges. Howard jumped on the left side of the basket, reached as high as he could with his left hand, touched the backboard and dunked the ball with his right hand. When the dunk was over, he had left his mark - in the form of a sticker - very near the top of the backboard. His teammate brought out a tape measure and they measured 12' 6" to the sticker. Granted the guy is 7' tall. But do you realize how high 12' 6" is? Stand directly underneath a basketball hoop and look at the top of the backboard - staggering.

Big deal, a basketball player and a sticker. The guy didn't even make it to the next round, nevertheless win the contest. Who cares? Well the proof is in the pudding, or the stuff is in the sticker. Dwight wrote something on it. He wasn't flashy about it, he didn't shove it in anyone's face. But there, in the middle of Sin City, surrounded by moral corruption, Dwight made his own little statement. He didn't hide his light in a bushel, he didn't put it in a bowl or write it on a sneaker or wear it on his wrist - he put it right out there - 12' 6" high in the center of attention. On the sticker Dwight wrote "All Things through Christ! Phil 4:13."

Does whatever happens in Vegas have to stay in Vegas?