Confession time would be to admit I probably spend more time watching sports and reading about them than anyone who claims to be spiritual should be doing. Maybe someday when I am perfect or wholly spiritual, sports will drop by the wayside and be unimportant. But since I am only a work in progress, I still am a sports guy. Maybe it is because I have not really grown up!
Certainly, playing sports or being active is a good thing. I loved developing a sense for what being on a team meant and, especially, what being a good teammate meant. Playing on teams gave me a way to become more aware of myself. I learned I was good enough to play, but I was not great. I could gain confidence without being arrogant. I learned I was not the most important person, but I was important. I learned to share. I learned a little about failure and loss.
All these life lessons, as we call them in athletics, are true. I still use them. I might talk about community more today, but a community is in some form a team. We more likely use words like collaborate or cooperate, but they are nothing more than teams working together, sharing and developing camaraderie. I am sure being involved in sports has made me a better leader than I otherwise would be. I am grateful.
I admit none of this was on my mind on a recent morning when I was having my cup of coffee and reading the newspaper. I begin every morning that way. I know, it should begin in prayer and supplication. But I get to that. Fortunately, my schedule is flexible enough for me to be free for spiritual time when I am more ready. So it was with the coffee and newspaper. To be more precise, it was the sports’ section. I start with that and enjoy it. Then I am more steeled for the news of the day, which often is not pleasant. To be clear, that morning I was looking for nothing special, nor expecting anything special.
I began an article about one of our local professional sports’ teams. That team is not very good. I am not a big fan of professional sports anyway. Too often, pro sports provide an ongoing saga of overpaid, over-hyped young folks. Too much talent and too much money packed into people with too little maturity. Of course, there are exceptions and fortunately most of them grow up to be very decent human beings. Besides, I have never been paid to play anything, so what do I know?
I was reading a little story about one of our young prima donnas who recently wrecked his very new, expensive car and in the process ran afoul of the law. It turns out he was driving a little too fast, hit the ditch and found himself accompanied by the law officers. The plot thickens when the law officers found a .45 caliber handgun in the car. That became more complicated with the discovery of some suspected marijuana. I have had accidents, but never this kind of complication!
As I was reading this account, I was thinking, “ya, ya.” I already knew about this story. It was not news! And then I hit this sentence from the head coach. He is talking about the incident and moving forward. I was very struck by this sentence. He said, “We’re in the human being business.” The truth of that hit me. Indeed, we are all in the human being business! As a college professor, I am in the human being business. I deal with students instead of basketball players or football players or swimmers.
As human beings, we all have accidents---sometimes literally and often metaphorically. Maybe Jesus was perfect, but the rest of us… I began to read this story with more interest. The head coach continued. “And no matter what our ups and downs are, our responsibility is to look out for one another and take care of one another and try to help one another as best we possibly can.” That sounds exactly what good teams do and what good communities do. It reminds me of something Jesus might have said to his band of disciples and what good churches should be preaching.
Mistakes may be made. According to the head coach, we don’t write off the person. The coach quips, “And we’ll continue to do that…” This sounds like grace and mercy. Interestingly, the coach makes it up to us, rather than about the young man. Of course, he has his issues. But if we focus solely on him, then we take ourselves off the hook. Good teams have everyone on the hook---all the time.
I appreciated the last word from the head coach. “So we won’t give up on anybody.” I don’t know whether this is gospel. But it does sound like good news to me. I know if and when I get into my next accident, I hope folks won’t give up on me. I have faith this is true for God and I would like to think it is true for my teams and communities, too.
I love it. Even on the sports page we can find good news! We are all in the human being business.
Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber. I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s. It was already a famous book by then. I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it. It has been a while since I looked at the book. Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks? I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece. I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation. I wish more people read him and took him seriously. Brooks’ article focused on the 2016 contentious election. He provocatively suggests, “Read Buber, Not the Polls!” I think Brooks puts
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