Passion for Frivolity

I am absorbed in the Open. The U.S. Open, that is. I enjoy the challenge of sports. Where else can you experience the pressing of an opponent to make that fuzzy little ball so elusive. Often the match is characterized by the enlightenment --not the victor's crown -- but the newfound revealing of my own inner self. That mysterious, hidden, unknowable person that lives beneath the layers, that pops up after that really stupid shot. Sports is the perfect venue for unmasking this person. The exhaustion and disappointment of the match is the very catalyst that unleashes this beast. The anger in failing to hit the shot or being overcome by an opponents power. Whether playing or watching, I see the contest is defined by the mastering of this hidden personality. The real battle, not against opponent but against myself.

The actual contest is the other event defined by the three pound brain exercising its reign, directing and controlling the multi-pound mass of body. It has been said that 90% of sports is mental. The brain initiates the self-talk. The most profitable manifestation is the pep talk which provides the redirection necessary to persevere. This communication is not always a redirection. Some players are baskets of negativity. They shrug and stomp and throw their rackets to the ground. They complain to the officials and to the people in their cheering box, soliciting sympathy and compassion. Their talk is reflective of their errors and frustration. They fill their heads with more confusion and defeat.

The real difference is belief. Belief can be generated by self talk. Belief is a decision to hope. An act of your will. A conscious decision to look for a positive outcome. To visualize that elusive successful shot. To anticipate that it is coming, that it's undoubtedly going to happen. To see yourself hitting it and breathing again. Your body relaxing and the energy surging through your muscles. A former coach of mine called it "the flow". The unconscious moving through the shot. You can't consciously recall the moment or your activity. All that remains is the victorious outcome. A perfect muscle memory, devoid of thought processes. The kinetics of the body perfectly synchronized, moving through the ball, as if overtaken by some other force. No conscious thought of yourself or your being. No awareness of yourself, just motion. Clean and precise. As if you were only a spectator.

The same must be said of the normal Christian life. We are told to walk in the Spirit. This can only be accomplished through faith. Faith must accept the veracity of the Word of God regardless of the circumstances. Even as you believe, be it unto you. The Words Christ spoke, they are Spirit and they are life. Peter said, "where else would we go. Only you have the words of life." The life lived in the Spirit is 100% confidence in another person, Jesus Christ, and the fact of His resurrection. Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Real life is lived only in faith. Belief that He will do it. He will prove Himself strong and that He is alive and living through me. The outcome is not based upon my performance but upon His will. Whatever the outcome, when I am surrendered to Him, will be His perfect will.

I've enjoy watching the players as they compete. My greatest disappointment as a viewer is witnessing as they're swallowed by the waves of defeat. Not based upon the score, but as I interpret their inner talk. I enjoy the most seeing someone who believes that they can overcome, not necessarily the opponent but this battle with themselves. When I witness that victory, it is often through my own tears. I believe for them, with them, cheer for them and delight in their conquest. My own hope for myself is to be victorious in the biggest game of all, my life upon this earth. I know that, as John the Baptist said, this will come only as I decrease and He increases. That is the only victory that matters.