The Power of the Hidden

Giuseppe was losing.

11 to 3 against Matthew, twenty-three years old, gym muscles, stadium ego. Matthew slammed every ball like he had to break the table. Giuseppe responded with shots so gentle they seemed like apologies.

"Grandpa, am I hurting you?" Matthew laughed. "Want me to slow down?"

Giuseppe smiled. "Play on."

SLAM! Matthew made a shot so violent the ball bounced off the wall. "12 to 3! Maybe you should go back to checkers!"

Two girls on the steps giggled. Giuseppe picked up the ball without hurry. As always.

I wrote in my notebook: "Matthew is winning. Giuseppe is teaching. It's not the same thing."

Match point. Matthew served with all the strength he had. Giuseppe did something I'd never seen: he didn't move.

He let the ball bounce on his side, go off the table, and said: "Nice serve."

"20 to 3! I destroyed you, grandpa!"

Giuseppe nodded. "True. Want to play again?"

The girls got up laughing. "Matthew, you're a champion!" He puffed out his chest. Giuseppe started collecting the balls.

"Why didn't you really play?" I asked when we were alone.

Giuseppe looked at me. "Who told you I didn't really play?"

"You lost 20 to 3."

"I saw a young man who needed to win today." He cleaned the paddle carefully. "Sometimes loving means losing in silence."

My heart stopped.

"Do you know the story of the wise men?" Giuseppe continued. "They came to Herod with gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Herod welcomed them with feasts, banquets, honors. Everyone saw their arrival."

Tick. He bounced a ball.

"But then they went to Bethlehem. They found a baby in a stable. Nobody saw them kneel. Nobody applauded their worship." The ball bounced again. "Where was their royalty greater? In the palace or in the stable?"

I couldn't speak.

"Jesus said: 'So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets... but your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you' (Matthew 6:2-4, NIV)." Giuseppe sat down. "True power is invisible. Like love. Like grace. Like losing to let someone win who needs it."

Matthew came running back. "Giuseppe! I told everyone about the game! They want to see how you play!"

Ten guys arrived laughing. "So you're the one Matthew destroyed? We want a rematch!"

Giuseppe stood up. He picked up the paddle.

What happened next was magic.

Tick-tick-tick-tick. Giuseppe started playing like a god. Impossible shots. Angles that defied physics. Absolute control disguised as ease.

In ten minutes, he destroyed Matthew 21 to 8.

Then he destroyed the second guy. And the third. And the fourth.

Complete silence. The guys looked at Giuseppe like he'd appeared from nowhere.

Matthew stammered: "But... before... how..."

Giuseppe put down the paddle. "Before, you needed to win. Now you need to learn."

"Learn what?"

"That 'God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong' (1 Corinthians 1:27, NIV)." Giuseppe collected the balls. "And that sometimes the strongest is the one who chooses to seem weak."

The guys left in silence. Matthew stayed.

"Why did you pretend to be bad?"

"I didn't pretend anything," Giuseppe replied. "I chose to be small so you could feel big. It's not pretending. It's love."

Matthew sat down. Suddenly, he seemed much younger. "I... didn't know someone could..."

"Lose for love?"

Matthew nodded.

"Jesus did it," Giuseppe said quietly. "He could have called twelve legions of angels (Matthew 26:53, NIV). He chose to seem defeated. Because sometimes the greatest victory is the one nobody sees."

That evening, Matthew apologized to Giuseppe in front of everyone. Crying.

"I thought being strong meant making others feel weak," he said. "You showed me that being strong means making others feel strong."

Giuseppe hugged him. "Now you've learned the secret of the Kingdom. True power hides itself. Like yeast in dough. Like seed under ground. Like love behind loss."

In my notebook: "Sixth day. I saw 1 Corinthians 1:27 playing ping-pong. Giuseppe lost to win. Matthew won to lose. Then they both discovered that true love chooses to be invisible. Like God, who hides in weakness to be found by humble hearts."

"The most powerful shot is the one you don't make. The greatest victory is the one you give away."

"Like Jesus on the cross: he seemed defeated. He was saving the world."