Upfront May 30, 2011 Issue

On your marks!

Kim Shippey, Senior Writer

It’s hard to escape the feeling these days that in media coverage of sports, off-field activities get more prominence than the games themselves. Too many athletes are showing contempt for the rules, even those who grew up believing that sports were healthy and, above all, fun.

Yet media sports departments still find ways to touch our hearts with stories of unselfishness, courage, and extraordinary dedication. Spiritual progress still gets column inches and air-time, with many athletes openly and sincerely thanking God for their success, and helpful life lessons abound on every playing field and in every locker room.

This week, Jim Spencer kicks off with his recollections of his football days and the spiritual growth they led to in his life (p. 14). He explains how at school he grew to understand that though he still needed to block and tackle his opponents, pass and catch the ball, beneath those surface requirements were the bedrock endowments that belonged to him as a creation of infinite Mind, divine Principle. “It became much more important for me,” he writes, “to express God and His qualities than it was to defeat an opponent.”

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