Go for the goal!

Linda Gibson Saylor

BEN was the goalkeeper on his school junior varsity soccer team when another coach approached him and asked him to try out for a classic soccer team, a team made up of the best players from several schools in the area. This team travels to play teams from other areas in the state.

The new team already had another goalkeeper, but the coach was not happy with his play. Ben was very flattered to be asked to join the team, but he wasn't sure he liked the idea of going in to take over the other boy's position. Yet the coach seemed to feel that it would benefit both of them to have a training partner, so Ben did try out for the team and was accepted.

Ben saw that he could express Godlike qualities all the time—on or off the soccer field.

But it didn't turn out to be such an easy situation. Ben didn't know any of the boys on this new team, and he felt as if he had to prove himself to them and to his new coach. Unfortunately, the harder he tried, the worse his performance was.

When the team went to the first tournament for the season, the coach came to Ben and his parents and explained that he had decided to keep the other boy as first goalkeeper, and that Ben would have very little, if any, playing time in the tournament. This was a really difficult thing for Ben to hear.

Fortunately, Ben's mom had some copies of the Christian Science Sentinel with her for that weekend. One of them had a particularly helpful thought: God doesn't have any "extra" ideas. Each of God's children is His image, or idea. And each one has a special place, a special purpose. Ben could see that since God, the only creator, the divine Mind, is all-wise and all-knowing, it would be silly of Him—in fact, impossible—to create an idea and then realize, "Oops! I already made too many of those. This one will just have to be a spare." Ben and his mom knew each member of the team was inseparable from and indispensable to God, their Father-Mother.

Ben spent most of that season on the bench. What a lesson in humility! He thought about the spiritual interpretation of the Lord's Prayer in Science and Health, especially the line "Give us grace for to-day" (Mary Baker Eddy, p. 17). Certainly, grace and poise are qualities so important to a goalkeeper—to any athlete. So, Ben focused on expressing "grace," never complained about not playing, and continued to give 110 percent at every practice. He helped the other goalie warm up before each game and cheered for his teammates from the sidelines.

Ben saw that he could express Godlike qualities all the time—on or off the soccer field. He thought about qualities such as strength, agility, alertness, intelligence, endurance, joy, peace, dedication, and love. His focus began to shift from the feeling that he needed to prove himself, to the concept of proving, demonstrating, or showing forth God's qualities.

The next season both boys tried out for the team, and both were accepted. When the team ordered jerseys, the other boy asked his parents to buy him a jersey that a field player would wear so he could try to play on the field as well as in the goal. Ben hoped to win the position of first goalkeeper and to be the one the coach chose to be in the goal for the state tournament.

As that season progressed, one of the players on the team quit. A short team roster meant that the goalkeepers would have to substitute as field players when they weren't in the goal. The other boy actually played quite well, even scoring a few goals during the season.

When it was time for the state tournament, Ben's hard work paid off. Throughout the season, he and the other boy had had equal playing time, but the one the coach chose to be in the goal for the toughest game, the first game of the tournament, was Ben. He had won the position of first goalkeeper. The other boy wasn't left out either! He got to play on the field while Ben was in the goal, and the coach continued to allow him to have time as a goalkeeper, too.

Ben continues to strive to express good qualities while he is on and off the field.

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