The one book I read and finished, however, is a great one: Greg Boyle's "Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship." and though it didn't have much by way of sports, it was resplendent in spirituality. Boyle, the founder of Homeboy Industries is a Catholic priest who has and continues to give his life in total service to others. His flock are men and women who are seeking a much different life than the one they most likely know: a life of violence, abuse, drug usage, and despair in and through gangs.
Some might say that he has saved but he is the first to save they have saved him...from himself...from self-absorption and believing in his own cleverness, obsessions, and ambition. Word. As a poet and prophet, you will find countless nuggets of wisdom in his stories. The following quotes are the ones I determined resonate with sports, coaching and athletic ministry.
Saint Ignatius wants us to consider “how God dwells” in things, inviting us to sheer wonder at sonograms and sunsets, and everything in between.
Reading this reminded me that "everything in between" is inclusive of the canyon at Sharp Park, home course of SI JV girls' golf. Though we don't always want to cross the street and walk through the tunnel to play the 4 long holes that are nestled in a cove created by nature—one with incline and lots of trouble, plenty of space for a golf ball to go out of bounds or just plain get lost—when Alistair McKenzie designed this course, he simply chiseled away to reveal a space where God dwells. Amen.
When Ignatius speaks of consolation, he means any movement that propels us in the forward direction. Desolation, then, is it opposite; not just feeling bad but also being kept from allowing our hearts to be cradled in God's. A homie, generally an able to filter his thoughts, met a stranger who had no legs. Unable to hold back, he looked at him and said, “Whoa. How do you manage?”
The legless man shrugged and said, “I just keep moving.”
Pretty much it.
Though I had run and completed three marathons, I had a healthy fear of running the Dispea in 2007. "The Olympian" describes this special though demanding race so well. "Started in 1905, the 7.4 mile Dipsea is the oldest trail race in the United States. Over the years, sections of the course have garnered colorful but harrowing monikers such as "Dynamite," "Cardiac" and "Insult" hills. Every year there are multiple injuries and runners treated for dehydration and exhaustion." From its start of, oh 20 flights of trail stairs to the choice a runner must make between two paths: one labeled "safe" and the other labeled "suicide" I needed advice from my friend Kevin Grady, Dipsea finisher and former cross country coach. He told me one thing: "keep moving forward." I drew upon his words. I did what he said. I still live by those words.
The legless man shrugged and said, “I just keep moving.”
Pretty much it.
Though I had run and completed three marathons, I had a healthy fear of running the Dispea in 2007. "The Olympian" describes this special though demanding race so well. "Started in 1905, the 7.4 mile Dipsea is the oldest trail race in the United States. Over the years, sections of the course have garnered colorful but harrowing monikers such as "Dynamite," "Cardiac" and "Insult" hills. Every year there are multiple injuries and runners treated for dehydration and exhaustion." From its start of, oh 20 flights of trail stairs to the choice a runner must make between two paths: one labeled "safe" and the other labeled "suicide" I needed advice from my friend Kevin Grady, Dipsea finisher and former cross country coach. He told me one thing: "keep moving forward." I drew upon his words. I did what he said. I still live by those words.
Boyle's story, however, is that much more poignant. To me, this anecdote speaks to the power of noticing, of wonder, of connection, of disposition and attitude. We all need to "just keep moving." This is a story I want to share with my students and my athletes. Those words "keep moving" might serve as my motto for the year.
"Wage peace with your listening." Judyth Hill
If we are seeking "to be understood as to understand," we must listen. Each season brings with it a share of challenges and difficulties. Team chemistry is never a given. Our athletes will feel disappointed, angry, spiteful and defeated. What a beautiful image to consider that we can change the tide of acrimony and disenfranchisement by opening our ears.
And yet, I believe there are so many ways to listen. Pay attention. Notice, Observe more. Talk less. Seek clarification. Stay curious. You'll wage peace in that process.
Ignatius of Loyola invites us to find God in all things. And he means all things. He is right in saying this, for the world is steeped in God. Grace indeed is everywhere. Ignatius discouraged his Jesuit for meditating on lofty, abstract divine truth. Meditate on the world, he instructed them, and all that happens in it, packed shoulder to shoulder with God. We live amidst the universe and soaked in the grace that invites us to savor it in.
Not really sure what I need to add. "All things" and as Boyle emphasizes "all things" means sports, athletes, practice, competition, victory and defeat, triumph and challenge. I hope it's a great year!
I don't doubt that as a coach, teacher or parent, you probably feel as though you are often "barking at the choir." Through his writing Greg Boyle, SJ invites us to "find kinship with one another and re-convinces us all of our own goodness." What a great summer read.
Photo CreditsBook is available https://amzn.to/2BlF2Ymhere
Wage Peace
Dipsea Trail
Sharp Park Canyon
Wage Peace
Dipsea Trail
Sharp Park Canyon
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