Love And Peace, Family And Friends.
As I watch the 2 concluding matches of the
group stage of this year’s World Cup, I see 1 of the players dance around the
ball, Samba-style, trying to mesmerise the pursuing defender. And whilst it is many decades removed, I am
reminded of some of the 1st lessons that my far and my coaches and
my friends teach me about playing different sports.
The 1st sport that I learn is
football; the sport that is played with
the foot and the ball, known by Americans as soccer. I remember being 6 years old and my far
telling me to focus on the ball. Rather
than being swayed by the upper torso or footwork, my far teaches me to
concentrate on the movement of the ball and anticipate the possibilities and
probabilities of where the ball may travel.
Whilst he abstains from competitively playing football in his youth (his
sports are American football and basketball, growing up), my far instils within
me basic guidance in athletic competition.
And whilst I am sure the development programmes for advanced football
clubs instruct young talent to also focus on player movement and positioning, “focus
on the ball” seems to remain sage and basic advice. It serves me well for nearly a decade and
beyond, as I am reintroduced to the sport in my 20’s with friends from around
the Earth.
The 2nd sport that I play,
organisationally, is American football.
During my prep school years, I succumb to the American influence. My junior year, I join the prep school
American football shape. Woefully out of
shape and overweight, I am relegated to offensive and defensive line whenever I
am promoted from warming the bench. “Focus
on the ball” stays with me, even though I could barely see the ball after it is
hiked, and my athletic task increasingly resembles Japanese sumo
wrestling. Knowing the sport as I do, I
am aware that NFL players are also trained to read player movements and
positioning as a means for preventing unfavourable plays and facilitating
favourable manoeuvres. However, there
remains the relevant primary directive:
focus on the ball.
As I progress through university, and as I
shed my weight and becoming physically fit, I become increasingly involved with
playing pick-up basketball. I remember
playing 1 on 1 with my friend, Todd, and him sharing a pointer that his prep
school coach tells him: watch your
opponent’s hips. The idea is that
watching the ball can be tedious and abstains from dictating where the player
may necessarily move, particularly amidst cross-overs, behind the back
dribbling, and drives towards the basket;
but the hips show where the player is moving, basically. This significantly helps when guarding 1’s
opponent, yet with additional factors like rebounding, stealing the ball,
intercepting passes, and anticipating player rotation and additionally, the
sage guidance remains: focus on the
ball.
1 of the characteristics that I enjoy about
football, and about sport in general, is how basic lessons of sportsmanship and
sportswomanship are translatable into actual life and into every
profession. I am reminded how corporations
enjoy recruiting recent graduates because student athletes have experience with
playing on organised teams and learn how to work with others. And I particularly appreciate specific
practices in football like kicking the ball out when a player is injured,
returning the ball to the opposing team after receiving the benefit, helping
each other up after a tackle, and exchanging jerseys after a hard-fought
match.
So, I consider how these lessons can
translate into our work within our InterFaith Movement. If the guidance to “focus on the ball”
remains True, what is the “ball” within our interFaith work. Is it compassion, listening, open-mindedness,
patience, and/or additionally? What is
THE critical component upon which to concentrate when we carry out this
work? And what are complementary
components to consider when focusing on the ball: is it service orientation, politics, education,
meditation, prayer, and/or additionally?
And if interFaith work is to be compared to
sport, who is the “opponent” to our interFaith work? Is it intolerant factions, violence, hatred,
our own selfish tendencies, lapses of concentration, and/or additionally? Who or what are the most significant detractors
to our victories within our InterFaith Movement?
And taking the sport analogy further, what
is the nature of teamwork in our interFaith activism? Is it consensus-building, egalitarianism,
story-telling, and/or additionally? What
pointers can you provide from your experiences and learning within our
InterFaith Movement?
Love And Peace,
Peter.
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