Important Words Well Said

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You’ve likely heard about the tragedy in Kansas City over the weekend, but you might have missed these important words well said afterward.

Linebacker Jovan Belcher took the life of his girlfriend and then his own life in a horrific murder-suicide. I think it’s usually best in unthinkable situations such as these to stay away from generic responses, especially as an outsider looking in. All I can say is that I feel sincerely sorry for everyone involved and I’ll be praying for them in the days and months that follow.

But yesterday an insider shared more than just a pat answer in response to what happened. Brady Quinn, oft-chastised backup-turned-starting quarterback for the Chiefs, shared this in his post-game press conference:

“When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth? We live in a society of social networks, with Twitter pages and Facebook, and that’s fine, but we have contact with our work associates, our family, our friends, and it seems like half the time we are more preoccupied with our phone and other things going on instead of the actual relationships that we have right in front of us. Hopefully, people can learn from this and try to actually help if someone is battling something deeper on the inside than what they are revealing on a day-to-day basis.”

I’m grateful for Quinn’s maturity and perspective, and for his strength to speak up, and speak up so eloquently, when it would have been easier to stay silent. Let’s take his advice and try to connect with each other today in meaningful, tangible ways, looking for opportunities to build each other up. It’s far more important than anything else we have to do.