The Cracked Acorn: Wrestle

Paul Harvey, at 90 years old, is gone but will be best remembered for THE REST OF THE STORY. His different view of the news kept us laughing and brought us smiles when least expected. He advertised various products and sold PAUL HARVEY INSURANCE (I had a policy for a while.) For nearly fifty years, he researched and wrote his scripts for his nationwide radio show.

“When television arrived in a small western Kansas town, it became the darling of the couple, Burl and Maude Sullivan, On Friday nights at 8 o’clock, it was time to pull the shades and disconnect the telephone and lock the doors and any other thing that might cause a disruption of their favorite show, wrestling.  Ask Maude or Burl about live wrestling, and they would tell you all the moves and names of all the wrestlers, never mentioning that there could be the slightest hint of Hollywood involved. When it was over, off went the set, and they would unroll the mats and go at it. Maude won most of the time, with her lightning leg locks catching Burl off guard, and then it was over until the next Friday night, two of Kansas’s lovers of the fine art of wrestling would again follow their favorite sport. Maude is 76 and Burl is 83.”

You wore a gown of pink with matching shoes. “No, it was shorts and a mini top with your old golf shoes.” Oh yes, I remember it well. It was the quick toss and rollover that caught my eye. “No, it was the Russian knee lock and the Bear hug.” Oh yes, I remember that so well. I lost a comb. “NO! You lost your teeth.” Oh, Yes, I remember that well! We dined alone and heard the birds sing! “NO, we had hot dogs and watched the test pattern.” Oh, Yes, I do remember it well!  I often think of all those Wednesday nights when I took an early nap. “No, it was Friday, and you dozed off after the Sleeper hold applied with the Spider Twist.”  Oh, yes, I remember it all now so well! ( fractured the lyrics from GIGI)

How many times have you or heard your friends say that they wrestled with a problem and lost sleep? The dictionary defines “wrestle” as struggling hand-to-hand with an opponent in an attempt to throw or force the opponent to the ground without striking a blow. We have to apply great strength and grapple with the problem until it is forced into a position where we gain and keep control. Today you can find the names of 150 holds and at least 250 wrestlers that work using stage names.

Wrestling has been around since Greek and Roman times. Note this from the Bible:

Jacob Wrestles With God – Genesis 32 (ESV)

²⁴ So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. ²⁵ When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. ²⁶ Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

²⁷ The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

²⁸ Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,^[f] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

²⁹ Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there.

³⁰ So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

³¹ The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,^] and he was limping because of his hip. ³² Therefore, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip because the socket of Jacob’s hip was touched near the tendon.