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In the August 1, 2011 posting "No" to Sibling Rivalry & "Yes" to Sibling Success--What Serena Williams Made Me Realize, I stood fascinated by families that met athletic success. I said “Rather than “How can it be that from the same family came x, y and z….” Isn’t the question—Why isn’t this happening more regularly?” But since writing that column, I have noticed how often it does happen. And it should, especially if natural talents are largely inherited.
So what about charisms? How might they be known or understood in the sporting world? I think the hottest subject in Sports and Spirituality, Jeremy Lin provides a great example.
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Charisms or long-term charisms need to be discovered and developed just like talents. It should not take much discernment for Knicks basketball fans to determine that their All Star point guard has the charism of Faith.
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Lin’s life has been so overrun with requests for interviews that he agreed to speak with Warriors beat writer Marcus Thompson II on one condition: questions must be limited to the issue of spirituality. The exclusive interview: Jeremy Lin says faith in God triggered ‘Lin-sanity’ reveals his charism. Thompson reports,
before he was crowned star of the Knicks, Lin was ridden with doubt and anxiety. So he doubled down on his commitment to God. And without that, he believes, there would be no Lin-sanity.Every Christian has a vocation or “mission” in life, a work of love through which each individual is called to follow Jesus and for which they were created (Ephesians 4: 7-16). God may have made Lin to be a basketball player. His background provides little to no evidence that his talent is inherited. His father taught his two brothers and him a game he never played at the YMCA. I have no idea if his father had an opportunity to play hoops in Taiwan or not. Let’s be clear, talents need not be inherited, but it seems obvious to me this talent may have been created as a platform by which his charism of faith is now magnified.
What the country sees is a Cinderella story, Lin's meteoric rise from the NBA Development League to unstoppable star. But for Lin, it's a story of faith, the beautiful struggle he's now convinced he can win. Most importantly, it's a story of how he'll be completely fine if he doesn't.
"I'm not playing to prove anything to anybody," Lin said. "That affected my game last year and my joy last year. With all the media attention, all the love from the fans (in the Bay Area), I felt I needed to prove myself. Prove that I'm not a marketing tool, I'm not a ploy to improve attendance. Prove I can play in this league. But I've surrendered that to God. I'm not in a battle with what everybody else thinks anymore."
He started every morning with a devotional before heading to the gym to work out. Whenever the anxiety tried to creep in, he whispered a Bible verse to himself: And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to his purpose. — Romans 8:28
Even with the glittery trappings that can accompany an NBA lifestyle, Lin's devoutness has always been his compass, friends say. "In high school, a few of us were known to party on Friday nights after the games. Jeremy was known for teaching the bible to kids and spending time with his family," said his Palo Alto High teammate Brad Lehman. "None of the usual distractions were an issue for him."
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"I Look To You" Whitney Houston and Jeremy Lin and I see the greatness of God in your gifts.
Photo Credits
Thank You God
Holy Spirit
Caloiaro Family
We Are All Witnesses-Lin
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