“Never give up; never surrender.”

- Cmdr. Peter Quincy Taggart, captain of the Protector

This past Sunday, the Philadelphia Eagles staged a somewhat miraculous comeback to beat the New York Giants 38-31, scoring four touchdowns in the last seven minutes and forty-eight seconds of the game.  In the process, they forced me to revisit a life’s lesson I know I learned many years ago but one which it is all too often too easy to forget – the value of perseverance.

I root for the Eagles, but I don’t bleed Eagle green—that extreme is reserved for the blue of Kentucky Wildcat basketball.  I do, though, tend to get rather caught up in the emotion of watching Eagles’ games.  On Sunday, they were playing the Giants for what would likely be the championship of the NFC East Division and a spot in the playoffs, so I sat down with high expectations of watching a well-played, crucial, nail-biting game.

I was sorely disappointed in the first half when the Giants beat up on the Eagles pretty much at will.  When the teams left the field at the half with the Eagles trailing 24-3, I figured I had already wasted enough time watching a worthless game, decided I wouldn’t waste any more time on it and turned the game off.  So it was that I missed seeing the miracle comeback in the fourth quarter, all because I gave up.

Last night I began thinking about the parallels between my feelings towards the Eagles at the halftime of that game and those I’ve been having about Barack Obama at the halftime of his current term—both have an emotional grasp on me; both are young at their jobs and have had a lot to learn; both spent the time before the half disappointing me because I know they can do better; and I’ve been ready to turn the TV off on both of them.

But Sunday’s game reminded me of what we risk giving up when we fail to persevere.  I turned off the Eagles and missed the excitement of their comeback.  And, lately, I’ve found myself ready to give up on the hope I felt when we elected Obama.  I’ve been too ready to forget the hopeless mess he inherited from George the Lesser and too preoccupied with the dreams that haven’t yet been fulfilled.  Sometimes, it takes greater effort to count the good he has done simply because there is so much noise from both the Left and the Right about what he hasn’t done.

The Eagles were down 24-3 at the half and 31-10 with eight minutes left in the game, but, as the final score shows, they weren’t out.  Obama still has a daunting second half in front of him and I’ve decided I’m going to keep the TV on for it.  Even if he doesn’t pull out a miracle, it just might be inspiring to watch.