Sports are sometimes seen as useless games, but they really can teach you a lot about life. People generally don’t think about religion as something you practice in the sports sense of the term, but there are a lot of parallels.
Think about how many cumulative hours an athlete spends honing his skills and developing a strong work ethic
–How do you learn more about your own beliefs if not by studying? And how do you develop a closer relationship with God without putting in the time? Discipline is must!
Think about how many times an athlete goes to practice when he doesn’t feel like it
–How often have you gone to Church, or stopped whatever you were doing to pray, even though maybe you weren’t mood? Life is about doing what we know we should do, even when we don’t particularly want to!
Think about how many times an athlete has to push through exhaustion and find what he needs to get the job done
–How often have hardships or crises left you wondering if you had the strength to get through it? But with God you found a way. Life is about digging deep and finding more, even when you feel like you have nothing left to give!
Think about how many times an athlete has to put his team before himself
–How often have you put friends, family or even strangers ahead of yourself? Life is about supporting others!
Think about how many times an athlete has to put aside the dejection of missing the game winning shot and suit up again
–How often have you messed up, big time? But you ask God’s forgiveness for your sins, find new hope, and try to do better next time. We all screw up, but life is about never, ever giving up!
So as these Olympics close, let us all remember that sports have a lot to teach us! Thanks for indulging my sports-rant ; )
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the way I live my life as a Christian. Would someone observing me be able to tell I was a Christian or would I just look like the average person? And I think if I’m really honest with myself (who wants that?!?) the answer is probably the latter.
Sure I’m good to my family and friends. I try to do lots of little things because I know they can make a difference – opening the door for someone, looking into the cashier’s eyes and meaning it when I say “have a good a day”, letting that car in in front of me even though he had half a mile to get into the exit lane and waited until the very last minute and cut the whole line, etc.. I go to Mass every Sunday and usually a few times during the week. But on the whole, there isn’t much that would recommend my lifestyle as radically different than the average American.
It makes me think of the passage where Jesus asks, “For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?” (Matthew 5:46-47). I shudder at the thought that Jesus would look at me and tell me I’m not doing more than tax collectors. Yikes!
So what’s the answer? I recently read Chasing Fransis by Ian Morgan Cron (which I’ll be reviewing in an upcoming blog) and a phrase from the book stuck with me: radical generosity. I love it! How can I live the way Jesus wants me to? Radical generosity. How can I “do more than others”? Radical generosity. How can I live out my Christian beliefs in a way that gives glory to God? Radical generosity.
Now sure it’s a little scary. Maybe I’m afraid of what my family and friends will say if I take what I read in the Gospels “too seriously” or if I become too “zealous” or “fanatical.” Maybe I’m more attached to my possessions than I’d like to admit. Maybe I’m more focused on my own dreams and goals than being open to living how God wants. Maybe there’s a million different things all working against me. But somehow, I know this is right for me and that I have to pursue it. Now I probably won’t be giving away all of my possessions any time soon, but there’s still a lot I can to practice radical generosity. Stay tuned…
If you’re anything like me, you’ve caught yourself more than once making self-denial/sacrifice an end in itself during this Lenten season. It’s easy to get so on focused on what you’re giving up, that you neglect to focus on the reason why you’re giving it up. I, for instance, have given up all dessert (call me a stereotypical woman, but this is very hard for me!). I’ve noticed that sometimes I’m so caught up in the self-control (in my case) required to say no that I don’t relate what I’m doing back to God – it becomes devoid of love for God. I’ve found the real challenge isn’t so much the sacrifice itself, but rather making it about God, instead of myself.
I was thinking about this when I came across the short video “Almsgiving and Joy.” Father Martin makes the point that part of the reason of giving something up (like meat), was so that we could give the money we save to the poor. Not too many people do that anymore. It amazes me how many ways there are to get off-track with something even as simple as a mortification during Lent!
But I think so long as we catch ourselves, and put our focus back where it belongs – on God – then it still ends up pleasing God. After all, He is a God always willing to give us another chance to do the right thing!
After so many serious posts, I thought it was time to lighten the mood with some funny! Check out this link, that’s full of really hilarious church signs. It includes gems like this:
So click to check out the 15 Hilarious Church Signs
Christian Living | admin | 
February 28, 2010 7:01 pm | 
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