A Movement of Grace

A number of years ago, the world of basketball fandom witnessed a young girl who was rescued from a shame story. 13-year-old Natalie Gilbert had won the right to sing the national anthem on national TV before a playoff game at the Moda Center, featuring the Portland Trailblazers. She prepared for the big day with plenty of practice. As she walked out onto the stage she was beautifully dressed and truly captivated the crowd.

22,000 people in the stadium joined people everywhere watching on ESPN, and all eyes were on her. She stepped forward to sing the national anthem, and stage fright took over. She forgot the words; nothing came out. It was every performer’s worst nightmare!

As she stood there in a frozen panic, Maurice Cheeks, the coach of the Trail Blazers, came over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder and he started singing the words to the national anthem. And, just for the record, he cannot sing!

Immediately, the tension relaxed. Everyone in the stadium began to smile. Natalie looked at Coach Cheeks, and then she started singing along with him, and as they sang the song together the crowd went nuts. The footage of this rescue played everywhere. SportsCenter picked it up. Then Good Morning America. The kid turned into a celebrity for at least 15 minutes. All because someone chose to come alongside her.[1]

Later, in an interview, she said, “What started out to be the worst moment of my life, turned out to be the best!”[2]

Can you imagine what it might have been like for her in that moment? National television, in front of thousands of people. Imagine the humiliation she must have felt, and then imagine the relief when the moment was redeemed. That shame story that could have attached to her for the rest of her life was changed by a guy who stepped over and started singing, even when he couldn’t sing. 

Sometimes we have the illusion that if we're going to help other people, we’ve got to be perfect. We’ve got to have all our stuff together, and we can't have any problems. But that's not true. Sometimes the presence of someone in our lives makes all the difference in the world, even when they're a broken person, too. There's power in connection.

Part of the power and redemption of shame is connecting with somebody else who comes alongside and makes a difference in our life. A lot of times, it looks like Christ: kindness, empathy, mercy. Maybe it doesn't always have a spiritual dimension to it outwardly, but there's something powerful in that sort of compassionate movement towards another person. 

I call it grace. 

Author: Dr. Richard Shaw

Dr. Richard Shaw is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Mental Health Counselor. He is an ordained minister with the International Foursquare Church and he is an Associate Professor of Counseling at George Fox University. He has traveled extensively in the U.S. and overseas to teach and facilitate workshops for his groundbreaking work around shame and grace. Richard is originally from the great state of Nebraska and currently lives with his wife, Karen, in the pacific Northwest. He loves both college and pro football and he enjoys spending time on the Oregon Coast. He has two adult children in education and ministry.

[1]Deveny, Shawn. “Hall of Famer Maurice Cheeks recalls national anthem assist: 'I didn't know I would do that'”. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba/news/maurice-mo-cheeks-national-anthem-natalie-gilbert-video-coach-nba-hall-of-fame-trail-blazers/h749s8eomo4l1gy86ju2g9r26. Accessed 28 June 2021.

[2]Muldoon, Katy.“Dizzying Freeze Fame.”Oregonian, 2003.