BY DAWN REED
Tuesday morning brought scary headlines about Damar Hamlin, a 24-year-old football player for the Buffalo Bills. During the much-anticipated faceoff between the Bills and the Cincinnati Bengals Monday night, in a regular play, after a regular tackle, Damar stood, staggered, then fell to the ground. The unthinkable had happened: he suffered a cardiac arrest. His heart had stopped. Coaches, players, refs, and medical professionals rushed to assist. CPR was administered for almost 10 minutes. Finally, Damar was taken to the hospital by ambulance.
I fell asleep early Monday night and had no idea about what happened during the game. Seeing the news, I scoured the internet for everything I could find. Videos showed his teammates in tears as they watched from the sidelines. More reporters and videos recorded groups praying aloud for this young man with so much promise. I cried and prayed as I viewed clip after clip.
Much has already been written and said about Damar. I heard of his efforts before Christmas to buy toys for kids in need. I learned that he was well thought of. That it was only his second season playing professional football.
What struck me most after absorbing all the information was that for quite a while, and even now, people of all walks of life unashamedly bowed their heads and called on the Creator of the Universe to intervene in Damar’s situation. What an amazing thing!
Right in front of everyone, the Bills huddled in the middle of the field to pray. Heads bowed, they clung to each other for support. Bills fans AND Bengals fans were seen and heard praying out loud in the stands. I saw a group of people outside the hospital praying in a circle. ESPN analyst, Dan Orlovsky, stopped in the middle of reporting and prayed out loud on camera.
In a time when so many in the world act like God is not real or say that He doesn’t care when many don’t know what they believe or if they believe, we saw men and women of all ages, all sizes, all colors, all team affiliations acknowledging that there is a true Higher Power and WE. NEED. HIM. He sees us. He loves us. He hears us.
Numerous Bible verses speak to us about crying out to God. In my favorite Psalm, David wrote, “In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help.” (18:6) He also penned in Psalm 61:1-2, “Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to You, I call as my heart grows faint…” In Jeremiah 33:3, God Himself encouraged prayer: “Call to Me and I will answer you…”
Second Chronicles 20 tells of Jehoshaphat and his people under attack from three armies. He called all the people-young and old-to the temple to seek the LORD’s help. In his public prayer, he cried out to the God of heaven, “We have no power to face this…we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”
Life is so fragile. Before Damar Hamlin, COVID and life in general have taught me that. (Just yesterday, a lady I loved dearly went to heaven after a long bout with cancer.) We truly are not promised tomorrow or even this afternoon. Through every day, every situation, every crisis, we have the opportunity to invite the God of heaven and earth to get involved. That’s a good plan for 2023!
As I write this, Damar is still in critical condition. We continue to pray for his healing. Over $5 million has been donated to his charity.