Wisdom When You Need It

Yesterday while driving home from my weekly monday b-fast date with my 2 daughters a really cool though popped into my head. As the chaplain for the Nat'l sport centre in Calgary, for some time I'd been pondering what faith based services have to offer that's different from sport psychs and other centre offerings. The thought I had was, "A coach develops the body, the sport psychologist the head, but a chaplain...the heart."

As I pondered this, I realized how significant this thought was. True drive and motivation can only come from out of the heart. Superficial goals like medals, teams, etc. have limited benefit to motivation, but a true heart felt drive can effectively move an athlete beyond comfort zones into new areas of success.

A sport psychologist can help with various mental coping systems (relaxation, visualization, etc.), but how many have ever asked, "why are you doing what you're doing?" If you think about it it's a pretty important question! All the hours, sacrifices and effort....and you've never even pondered why?

When you discover why, hopefully it'll be a compelling enought reason to produce a true fire within. One that gives meaning and purpse to every workout and race. Granted..you may not like what you see. It could be vanity and selfishness. It could be a weak self concept that is in a desperate search for love and acceptance. Maybe the question "why?" never gets asked because of what might truly be found deep down there.

A Christian athlete will hopefully find their meaning...the answer to "why?" in their love and gratitude for their Saviour. When you realize it's about Him, not yourself. Bringing attention to Him and not yourself...it's at this point you've entered into a whole new realm of heart felt purpose and meaning.

Of course it's easy to say this...and many athletes may try to include it in their playbook either because they think it's the right thing to do, or it'll help them perform better. But to truly tap into this higher reason for living and competing the most important training activity you can do is spend time with God, developing a love relationship. From there the true purpose will flow out of the heart and into a passionate performance.

Interestingly, later that day I found myself riding alongside 4 friends as they bike tripped from Calgary to L.A. One of them an old friend, one an aquiantence and 2 others new. One was a retired bobsled Olympian (as were the other 2). She asked me what I'd tell her if we'd met earlier in her career. What would I tell her about the chaplaincy and why it's there. No brainer now...God already told me that morning what I was suppossed to say-just didn't know to whom, but now I did. We're there for the heart!

Recently I read an interesting article on the merits of small church. It was interesting as the author shared that despite the trend the last several years towards mega-churches, he contended (and put forth some really good research findings) that small churches are better positioned to reach out to the 21^st century mind.

Here’s some reasons:

1) Authenticity. This trait has become an important value. In a best selling book, the secular authors claim that people more and more today are buying products and services based not on hi-quality and value, but increasingly on how real or fake they perceive the offerings. One church study found that the number one reason people returned to churches after an initial visit is because they think the church is "authentic"...(Pastor’s preaching was #2..... church programs were only 5% of the reason). Other research turned up that the most effective churches reaching out to young people in the 20's and 30's had authenticity as one of their highest values. This was true in 100% of these churches.

Large churches often struggle with authenticity and genuiness simply because their size necessitate that they be run like a business. Worship and programs become professionalized and struggle to function like a family (with a family’s blessings and short comings!). This doesn't mean that they can't be genuine, but it's hard for them.

2) Focused. Face it...life is getting more and more complicated. Because of this people may yearn for more focus and intention in their church experience. Sure, large churches have a plethora of programs and some people are attracted to this, but increasingly I’m meeting people who are burned out on church. There were so many ministries and programs demanding attention in their church that they had no time for community involvement or finding personal emotional space. Small churches need to find just a few programs to which they can be truly committed and get everyone on board. In doing so everyone can get involved and really take ownership as they work together and provide a quality program. The energy, sense of mission and momentum generated by this is exciting and contagious!

More coming in the next post!

THE MOST TRUSTED PEOPLE IIN CANADA

This week a popular Canadian magazine revealed the 50 mosts trusted people in Canada. At the top of the list was David Suzuki. Now, I love his show, "The Nature of Things". It highlights the wonders of God's creation. Of course Mr Suzuki's evolutionary bias never mentions the Creator that real scientists like Einstein believed in. Interestingly, years ago I read a piece by the first phd. in climatology in Canada. You know, the guys that actually study the climate for their life's work....the people that really understand what's going on with the climate. Scientists that tell us that global warming peaked in 1998 and it's been getting cooler ever since. The people that don't fudge the data (a.l.a. United Nations) for their own nefarious purposes. He claimed that Suzuki hired a full time spin meister to present misleading climate data to Canadians with the purpose of perpetuating the global warming myth that provides the Suzuki foundation with loads of research cash and grants. He off handedly accused Suzuki of exploiting the environment more than oil companies.

So, this is the most trusted man in Canada. Did any religious or spiritual figures make the list? Nope. Wayne Gretzky came in a #14. I like Wayne. Even met him in the Nagano Olympics in '98. He seemed like a decent guy. But still I wonder...how come no religious figures? I guess too many clergy sex scandals along with the marginalizing of God in our society.

So who in Canadian society lights the path for us? Who shows us a higher road to live our lives on? 2000 years ago Jesus said the He was the light of the world and that whowever follows him will not walk in darkness. I can't help but believe that the answers for our world are in that light. And it sure seems like a lot of people have been walking in the dark groping around, looking for something.

Years ago Canadian music icon Neil Young sang, "I don't know who trust anymore, there's a shadow running through my veins like a beggar going from door to door."

Maybe God guys have something to say after all. Perhaps this light that Jesus talked about can be explained by pastors. Perhaps we should take a chance and trust them to bring us to this light. It couldn't be any darker around here anyway.