Faith in action - News Release Basketball

In this post I want to share an amazing story that I´ve experienced during this years´ News Release Basketball Tour in Lörrach.

It is a story about the impact of prayer:

When I first met with the team at the end of July in Loerrach I felt an immediate connection to my future fellow players on the team. Normally it is usual that basketballplayers have a special bond. But the fact that all of these guys are walkin´ where the Good Lord leads added an even deeper connection. It was truely a blessing.

Our first game was against an election team from Switzerland. Their best player happened to be their coach as well. Until half-time it was an intense game and we were up with only 4 points. During the game their best player (and coach) started some really dirty talk. Fortunately he was cursing at our players mostly in german, so his trash talk didn´t have that kind of an impact on us. But we all could feel the hostility that the guy threw verbally in our direction.

Unfortunately we simply couldn´t ignore his provocations and kind of gestured back at him. And although we won with over 20 points in the end, this trash talk was definetly the negative note of our first game together.

As fate would have it, we were goin´ to play this guy again four days later, since he was the coach of the local YMCA Lörrach. That game kind of presented us the opportunity to get things straight: After Game 1, in our team meeting, we talked things over. And we agreed to pray for this guy in particular before our next game against him.

On gameday, right before the game, still in the locker room, we got together in order to pray for the game. It was our pregame ritual to ask God for His presence and guidance during our matches. And we prayed especially for the players that were to give their testimony during half time. The difference on this day was that we included the others´ team coach and player into our prayers. Tim Jones, one of our coaches, prayed for patience, love and understanding goodwill for that person.

After the prayer was over and as we stepped on the court, I felt an immediate transformation. I didn´t see the guy as a bad or hostile person any more. In this moment I really understood the truth that God loves him as much as he loved anybody else in that gym ! My main focus simply wasn´t any more on his inappropriate behaviour or bad attitude.

My thoughts were:
" Man, we prayed for this guy. And although he is our opponent on the court, God loves him as well as anybody else ! And didn´t Jesus give us the command to pray for our enemies and love ´em ? This is a fine lesson !"

I don´t know it for sure but I think we all felt that way. One example was Tim Jones. There was an ingame scene in which Tim Jones happened to foul him pretty hard. He was upset of course but Tim simply directed some nice words towards him and finally gave him a clap on the back: Understanding goodwill !!!
All in all we simply didn´t buy into his lil´games. We had the patience and the love.

We won the game that night again with over 20 points. But from the spiritual point of view, we really won that game to a 100 %, because we bridged the gulf, through the help and impact of prayer, to walk the walk instead of just talkin´ the talk.

For me, this was faith in action. And Jesus is right: It is something special to be able to love our enemies. This game was a perfect lesson on how a simple prayer can shift our attention to a higher level (spiritual realm) and finally enables us to love our enemies, ´cause God loves our enemies as well !

Thank you, News Release Basketball !

The essence of prayer

Sometimes, when we wish or pray for something and it doesn´t happen, we may believe that God didn´t answer our prayers.

But God always answers our prayers; it´s just that sometimes the answer is no. Perhaps what we are asking for came from kind of fear based desires and attachments rather than from a commitment to growth and learning, which often entails letting go.

True prayer is done with faith, without attachments to outcomes, with the sense, "Thy will be done !".

Sometimes we ask for things without considering whether they serve our highest good:

Some years ago, I met Arthur, who used to be a professional taxi driver. He prayed one day for having one million dollars. He kept working hard. And one day finally he did get his million....A truck collided with his taxi, and he won a 1.6 million-dollar settlement in compension for permanently losing the use of his arms and legs.

When we ask for something, we do well to add, "If it serves my highest good and learning" !

- From the book "No ordinary moments!" by Dan Millman

Our body - A gift from God !

When in balance, our body is one of the finely tuned instruments in creation. The moment we appreciate our human body as a miracoulus gift from God we feel naturally moved to take better care of it.

And however our body may look, whether it pleases us or not, we get only one, and it lasts a lifetime. To put this another way, our lifetime only lasts as long as our body. And the quality of that lifetime will parallel the quality of our body. During life, with all its cycles, we will say good-bye to friends and loved ones; we will lose a lot of things, but our body, loyal to the end, will stick with us for life - guaranteed. When this truth penetrates fully, we begin to take good care of our "best friend": Our body !

So what are the precise benefits of physical exercise ? And how can I get into it ?

Exercise strengthen muscles, including the heart; it expands our lung volume, increasing oxygen supply to our brain, other organs and all our cells; and it stimulates our nervous system.

In addition to these well-known physiological benefits, exercise clears blocked emotional energies and also raises our metabolic fire, developing an artificial fever that helps purify the body of toxins, making it less hospitable to invading bacteria and viruses.

Those of us who do move regularly know the secret: Physical activity can expand our energy field and can often invigorate us far more than a nap or a rest. Phyisical exercise also stimulates endorphins, the body´s natural painkillers and relaxants.

Not everyone has to compete in athletics or even pursue intense fitness activities to enjoy the benefits of physical training. Appropriate kinds of training exist for every body, every age, and every level of condition.

Fitness and vitality used to refer to brute power, size or muscularity. That´s not the case any more. For instance, lifting weights can build strength, but if we lose our sense of proportion, we end up building more muscles than we need. Muscles weigh more than fat, so we end up carrying around extra weight that serves no useful function.

An excerpt from the book "No ordinary moments" - Dan Millman