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Eye on the World: the sports stages are set
The Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks are heading to the Super Bowl, having won their respective league championships in tough games on Sunday. The Seahawks and the Broncos will battle on February 2 for the NFL championship, pitting the league’s top defense against its top offense in the first-ever Super Bowl to be played in an open-air stadium in a cold-weather city.
Meanwhile, athletes around the world are preparing for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, which will begin on February 6. On Monday Jamaica announced it would be sending a bobsled team to the games for the first time in 12 years, and the day before, American hurdler Lolo Jones was named to her country’s bobsled team. Other closely watched sports include downhill skiing, figure skating, and women’s ski jumping, which will be included as an Olympic event for the first time. Russian security is currently working hard to ensure that the Olympic venues and surrounding areas in Sochi are safe for the arrival of athletes and spectators next month.
“Spirituality and sports,” a recent Sentinel audio chat, includes a lively discussion of how we can learn spiritual lessons by watching or participating in sports. By focusing on the qualities of strength, grace, humility, and discipline — qualities that come from God, rather than from personal ability or force of will — we can see more clearly how God cares and provides for each one of us.
“Discovering spiritual identity through sports” expands on this theme and reminds us that prayer can also be a practical response to the fear of injuries sustained through contact sports. “Our true identity,” writes the author, “is an expression of divine Spirit and infinite Love.” That fact means that we can witness protection for ourselves and others during games, knowing that everyone involved is spiritually intact and whole. We can prayerfully support the Super Bowl, the Olympics, and other games by recognizing the spiritual qualities expressed in those events, rather than dwelling on the fear of harm to the athletes.
“Spotting the year’s real winners,” written after the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, looks back on the spiritual dimensions that were evident in the sports world that year — and helps us to look forward to the coming events. As the article points out, we should expect to see “God-endowed qualities of endurance, resilience, concentration, and, ultimately, respect and grace” on display — no matter what the venue or event.