Peace
Throughout my years talking with athletes I have come to the conclusion that one thing is clear about athletes. Athletes are driven.
You need to be to spend the wee hours of the morning at the swimming pool working on your Butterfly Stroke, or hours upon hours throwing the shot put to develop impeccable technique and form to break your personal PR.
The beauty of sports is found in the anonymous moments athletes spend working in the gym, watching tape and pursuing excellence while they learn to compete and achieve their personal and team goals. However, this unbridled pursuit of athletic achievement has the potential to steal something essential to the emotional, mental and spiritual side of each and every athlete. Peace.
Bookshelves and seminars are filled with books, lectures, sermons and practices that promise peace in a variety of ways; however, Sociologists tell us that as a society we experience less and less peace on a daily basis. Our world is obsessed with talking about, seeking and pursuing peace, however more and more people (athletes included) are more unsettled than ever? Why is peace so elusive and why does it seem we can never get our hands on it? How does an athlete not just pursue peace, but what does it mean to compete from a place of peace, especially in the midst of competition?
Peace is that elusive state of being that psychologists call “a harmonious state”. The dictionary definition of peace tells us that peace is “a state of tranquility and calmness”. Peace is a state of mind What is peculiar about this definition is that nowhere is the absence of conflict mentioned.
A Christ centered athlete achieves peace in a distinctive way and this path to peace is contrary to the ways the world experiences peace. The world experiences peace from what you have or who you know, a Christ centered athlete has the potential to attain peace from who they know.
In the Gospels we read different accounts of the disciples of Jesus riding out a storm in a boat. The disciples are terrified in the midst of the storm, yet Jesus is sleeping. He is so at peace within the bowels of the ship and seemingly undaunted by the storm that his peaceful attitude catches his disciples by surprise. How can Jesus even consider sleeping at such a dire time. They wake him and are bewildered when Jesus challenges their faith (Mark 4:35-41) and directs the waves and winds to cease. Another time, we read of the disciples in a boat in the same sea in the midst of another storm. This time they stare out into storm horrified at the sight of what they perceive to be a ghost. Peter calls out to Jesus in the midst of the storm and does the unthinkable; walks on water. After Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus and on the raging storm around him, he falls into the water and Jesus reaches out a hand and rescues Peter. The Gospel account (Matthew 14:32) then tells us that Jesus stepped into the boat and the waves and wind stops. The first time, Jesus verbally declared “Peace” and the storm calmed, this time he just stepped into the boat and the storm knew what to do in response to Jesus. The presence of Jesus is all we need to experience peace, because his presence is peace. This tells us that peace is not an emotion we feel, but someone we call on and his name is Jesus.
Even in a culture that screams anxiety and anxiousness in every situation an athlete has the ability to experience peace in the midst of any situation, trial, injury or competition because we know the Prince of Peace resides with us through the Holy Spirit.
Scripture’s narrative on experiencing peace does not end with the Gospel accounts. The Apostle Paul eloquently gave every believer a simply formula to engage when the worries and stresses of the world overwhelm us, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)
Simply stated the antidote to anxiousness is thankfulness. Look at what Paul was saying. He was letting the Philippian church know that even in times of anxiousness, peace is not elusive. Paul pointed them towards Jesus reminding them that the “Peace of God” is able to guard your hearts and minds and the pathway to this reality is paved with thankfulness. It is impossible to be thankful for what God has done and anxious about what will happen at the exact same time.
Athlete. If you find yourself anxious or worried in any circumstance, be sure you discipline yourself to call on the name of Jesus in thankfulness, it is impossible to be thankful and worried at the exact same time.