"Dandy" Don Meredith

I grew up a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. In my childhood being a fan of the Cowboys meant rooting for Dandy Don. He probably wasn't the best quarterback in the league but, I loved the Cowboys, and so I looked up to #17. I tried to emulate him in my passing. I had a replica jersey. He was kind of a big deal. His passing today at the age of 72 leaves me saddened.

In the years following his pro football career Don Meredith held a prominent position in my home on Monday nights. My grandmother loved him. My father used to sing, "Turn Out the Lights" in a manner after Don Meredith and we all loved the way he giggled and got under Howard Cosell's skin. Monday Night Football and Don Meredith were fixtures of my childhood; American icons. He made Monday Night Football must see TV.


Time moved on for Monday Night Football and the announcers have changed several times over the years. The current crew is very good in my estimation but, they weren't who I grew up with. So, I get it when church members say, "we should sing the hymns I grew up with. They're the ones that really speak to me." I get that. I miss the things of my childhood that helped form me and form the values that molded me. However, things do change with time whether we want them to or not. One of my favorite Christian authors, Kathleen Norris, wrote, "Disconnecting from change does not recapture the past. It loses the future."

That's a difficult but seemingly accurate statement. A church is a multi-generational enterprise. You can't be all things to all people all the time. Someone gets left out as another is included. It's the nature of bridging generations. But time does march on and change happens. In "Star Trek Generations" the villainous Dr. Soren says to Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "they say time is the fire in which we burn." Caustic, but again, with a ring of truth.

So, how do you address the multi-generational needs of congregations? With respect. You respect what has been and you respect what is and you respect what is coming. Each generation has or is growing up with something that forms the landscape of their memories just like Don Meredith is prominent in mine. So, you treat them all with respect and you listen to what they are saying and asking and you take them seriously. Then, you do your best to meet their needs. Not everyone is going to be happy all the time. You can only hope that when you cast a gaze back in time the road you have traveled has honored them all.

To Don Meredith's family I pray God's peace be with you in your grieving. He gave me much joy and birthed many of my football dreams. May he rest in God.