There is good news for syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman right in her literary backyard. In one of her columns Ms. Goodman lamented women's lack of access to the peculiar and mainly male language of sports talk ("Why I'm feeling unPatriotic" Boston Globe, January 9, 1997). The hopeful sign was published on the same day just a few pages away in, of all places, the newspaper's sports section.

It was a story about the spiritual life of a football team. Now, it's probably fair to say that an Internet word search on the combined terms spirituality and football would turn up precious few, um, hits. Sports fans have grown accustomed to seeing male and female athletes openly crying over wins and losses, and men hugging one another; however the sight of athletes openly praying is a more recent phenomenon. Journalists, and television sports-casters in particular, often don't know what to say when an athlete credits God for his or her performance. Time to go back to the anchor desk!

While something approaching a revolution has dawned full force in the media's coverage of topics relating to spirituality, it has been rare in this sports fan's experience to see serious attention given to spirituality and religion by sports journalists. But that, too, is changing. It's the nature of a leavening agent to penetrate the whole mass. In this case the leaven is the reality of God's redeeming love, and it's human consciousness that's being transformed.

The article in the sports section, by Boston Globe writer Michael Vega, had the subhead "Many believe religion is a major factor in their success." He was writing about the Jacksonville (Florida) Jaguars football team. Yet he could have been referring to a growing number of athletes throughout the professional and amateur sports world.

The signs of spiritual revolution have been present and increasingly more visible among both athletes and the general public for quite some time—an eagerness to confess to faith in God and divine aid, especially at moments of triumph or disappointment; the growing acceptance of prayer as a means of healing; the spiritual questing evidenced in the books people are buying and their willingness to invest in spiritual growth; the desire to share openly what God means in one's life, in small groups or in postgame interviews, and to share a love of the Bible and other inspired books.

Professional sports, however, have been to a large extent a realm of life in which values tend to be skewed toward grit, muscles, and machismo. And sports journalism has in many ways aped its subject's reputation for rough-and-tumble language and lifestyles. There have been worthy exceptions, inspiring stories in which an athlete's faith was taken seriously. It's more common, though, to see faith and prayer treated with humor or cynicism. Or linked to acts of desperation.

The realms of sports and the military have developed a shared vocabulary, along with the common phenomenon of male domination. Not surprising, then, are the leavening effects, and moral turbulence, that increased participation by women is bringing to both of these realms, especially in the United States but in other countries as well.

The increasing influence of femininity on sports and sports journalism is having positive effects. These influences may be hard to detect during a high-energy network football halftime report, or for that matter at the line of scrimmage or on court during a pro basketball game, where monosyllables and "trash talking" often are the rule. But femininity in its highest sense, as an inherent component of spiritual manhood, can be felt as a palpable presence on the field at times—in unselfish play, in a nurturing concern for teammates and opponents, in selfless joy over teammates' successes, and in the tenderness of prayers said in the midst of a stadium in bedlam.

Given the extraordinary emotional, social, and financial investment individuals and governments make in sports, even those who have little or no interest in sports media coverage would benefit by being aware of the mental influences involved—of how society thinks, broadcasts, acts, and reacts. The question for us is not whether the sports media help to create or simply reflect the coarseness, aggressions, and egotism that seem increasingly rampant on the sports scene. The real issue for today's thinker/prayer is the content of his or her own thought. What truly is power? What or who controls life? What is true of man and woman? Is my thought passive of healing?

As we play, read about, watch, and listen to our sports of choice, and as we pray for our own clarity and our community's well-being, there are specific points worth pursuing—lines of thought that can support humanity's spiritual yearnings. Here's short list in the form of questions I've been asking myself:

What impact do our concepts of God and man have on the world around us? What change in attitude and actions will come as my neighbors and I discern more of God's wholeness as Father and Mother, and of ourselves as the male and female of divine Love's creating?

What about the children around me, in my own family or in the neighborhood? What is their impression of us and the sports we play or watch? Do they see partisanship and anger? Or fairness and pure joy?

How can I better support the quality of men and women in sports and sports media coverage? Am I valuing feminine qualities as innate components of being? Do I see spirituality as knowing no gender lines?

Do I accept animal masculinity as a fact of life or an aberrant state of thought that needs to be healed—and can be healed only—by spiritual means?

How can I advance the recognition of faith and spiritual practices as forms of treatment respected in sports medicine? Do I expect to see spiritual healing covered by sports journalists as something natural and normal?

Even though at this time the worship of power, money, and self appear to be increasingly dominant no playing fields and in the sports media, am I watching for a substantial shift in motivation among athletes and journalists as thoughts is spiritualized? How can I help magnify the good—better support current evidence of this transformation already underway?