One of the surprising and wonderful gifts I have been recently given is a book. That I was given a book may not be too surprising. But this was a particular and special book. A friend gave it to me. I had not asked for the book, nor even hinted that I might want it. And I certainly would not have thought about getting a signed copy from the author. The book is by Jim Tressel, the famous Ohio State football coach and now president of Youngstown State University. The book is entitled, The Winner’s Manual.
Tressel won a national championship in 2002 at Ohio State and multiple championships in his stint as coach at Youngstown State. Tressel is a good friend of one of my friends. And it was through her that I came to have a copy of the book. Since I am a sports junkie of sorts, it was a gift I appreciated---although I probably would not have thought to buy a copy for myself. I have not sat down to read the book from beginning to end. But I do enjoy browsing through it and gleaming tidbits here and there.
One of the chapters Tressel entitles, “Excellence.” I am intrigued by the concept of excellence. I often laugh that every higher education institution---including my own---says it is doing excellence or, at least, are aiming at excellence. That reminds me of Garrison Keillor’s mythic Minnesota town, Lake Wobegon, where everyone is above average! If everyone is excellent, then what does it mean? Nevertheless, I engaged the chapter for what it could teach me.
Tressel opens the Excellence chapter with four quotations functioning as an epilogue. The first quotation is from Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi says, “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field.” This explains why Tressel included the quotation in this chapter. It interests me that Lombardi links commitment to excellence to the quality of a person’s life. No doubt this works in football. Does it work for the spiritual life, too?
I believe it does. In the first place I would not say excellence is the same thing as winning or success. For example, a person who has less talent might achieve excellence, but still not be as good as someone with more natural talent. When I think about excellence from a spiritual standpoint, I don’t think about success. I think about commitment, discipline and obedience. Excellence is the result of a deep and meaningful relationship with the Holy One. Excellence is the opposite of dabbling in spirituality. Excellence has to do with a way of life.
The second quotation Tressel uses is from the philosopher, Aristotle. This classical Greek thinker was an amazing person and left a profound impact on Christianity. Aristotle quips, “Excellence is not an act…but a habit.” This resonates with much of what I have written in various books. For Aristotle and myself, excellence has to do with the virtues. The virtues are moral, because they aim at the good. The classical virtues, like courage, justice and love, are the building blocks of character. A person of character is a virtuous person.
With this definition it is easy to see that excellence is not some idea or mere judgment. And according to Aristotle, excellence is not a simple act. One act is fairly easy to do. Developing action into habits is another thing. Again, it takes commitment and discipline. And this is why excellence is not for everyone. The price of excellence is high enough that many folks do not want to pay the price. But we can understand why Aristotle would say excellence is a habit. It is performance at a high level---performance on the athletic field or in the spiritual arena.
I will skip the third quotation and quote sprinter, Michael Johnson. Johnson says, “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform our best.” I like the perspective Johnson offers and can now use that to describe the spiritual journey. For most of us, the spiritual walk is a daily journey that demands some hard work. We live in a culture that captures our attention and offers easy ways to do life. In some ways life becomes a spectator sport. But spirituality is not a sideline activity or weekend fling.
I agree with Johnson that the spiritual journey is punctuated by briefer opportunities for action. It is not possible spiritually always to be “on.” Again, like sports, so much of the spiritual walk has to do with discipline. In this case it is the discipline of prayer or meditation. It is a discipline of study and spending time in silence. And then, when the opportunity comes, we are ready for action---action grounded in a life centered in God’s Presence. Excellence comes as a result of hard work preparing us for the game or performance. In the spiritual arena excellence has to do with being spiritually mature and disciplined to be ready for habitually enduring in a spirit of obedience.
Excellence is an easy idea to understand, but excellence is not merely an idea. It is an action---a habit and way of life that incarnates the energy of God’s love in this world. It is indeed praiseworthy.
Tressel won a national championship in 2002 at Ohio State and multiple championships in his stint as coach at Youngstown State. Tressel is a good friend of one of my friends. And it was through her that I came to have a copy of the book. Since I am a sports junkie of sorts, it was a gift I appreciated---although I probably would not have thought to buy a copy for myself. I have not sat down to read the book from beginning to end. But I do enjoy browsing through it and gleaming tidbits here and there.
One of the chapters Tressel entitles, “Excellence.” I am intrigued by the concept of excellence. I often laugh that every higher education institution---including my own---says it is doing excellence or, at least, are aiming at excellence. That reminds me of Garrison Keillor’s mythic Minnesota town, Lake Wobegon, where everyone is above average! If everyone is excellent, then what does it mean? Nevertheless, I engaged the chapter for what it could teach me.
Tressel opens the Excellence chapter with four quotations functioning as an epilogue. The first quotation is from Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers. Lombardi says, “The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field.” This explains why Tressel included the quotation in this chapter. It interests me that Lombardi links commitment to excellence to the quality of a person’s life. No doubt this works in football. Does it work for the spiritual life, too?
I believe it does. In the first place I would not say excellence is the same thing as winning or success. For example, a person who has less talent might achieve excellence, but still not be as good as someone with more natural talent. When I think about excellence from a spiritual standpoint, I don’t think about success. I think about commitment, discipline and obedience. Excellence is the result of a deep and meaningful relationship with the Holy One. Excellence is the opposite of dabbling in spirituality. Excellence has to do with a way of life.
The second quotation Tressel uses is from the philosopher, Aristotle. This classical Greek thinker was an amazing person and left a profound impact on Christianity. Aristotle quips, “Excellence is not an act…but a habit.” This resonates with much of what I have written in various books. For Aristotle and myself, excellence has to do with the virtues. The virtues are moral, because they aim at the good. The classical virtues, like courage, justice and love, are the building blocks of character. A person of character is a virtuous person.
With this definition it is easy to see that excellence is not some idea or mere judgment. And according to Aristotle, excellence is not a simple act. One act is fairly easy to do. Developing action into habits is another thing. Again, it takes commitment and discipline. And this is why excellence is not for everyone. The price of excellence is high enough that many folks do not want to pay the price. But we can understand why Aristotle would say excellence is a habit. It is performance at a high level---performance on the athletic field or in the spiritual arena.
I will skip the third quotation and quote sprinter, Michael Johnson. Johnson says, “Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform our best.” I like the perspective Johnson offers and can now use that to describe the spiritual journey. For most of us, the spiritual walk is a daily journey that demands some hard work. We live in a culture that captures our attention and offers easy ways to do life. In some ways life becomes a spectator sport. But spirituality is not a sideline activity or weekend fling.
I agree with Johnson that the spiritual journey is punctuated by briefer opportunities for action. It is not possible spiritually always to be “on.” Again, like sports, so much of the spiritual walk has to do with discipline. In this case it is the discipline of prayer or meditation. It is a discipline of study and spending time in silence. And then, when the opportunity comes, we are ready for action---action grounded in a life centered in God’s Presence. Excellence comes as a result of hard work preparing us for the game or performance. In the spiritual arena excellence has to do with being spiritually mature and disciplined to be ready for habitually enduring in a spirit of obedience.
Excellence is an easy idea to understand, but excellence is not merely an idea. It is an action---a habit and way of life that incarnates the energy of God’s love in this world. It is indeed praiseworthy.
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