Strict Training- A Prize for the Ages Awaits!
by Julie Walton, Ph.D./Calvin College
I am reading Elisabeth Elliot’s “Discipline, The Glad Surrender” (1982) this week, and came across a most wonderful quote about athletics’ contribution to life which Elliot attributes to Pope John Paul (p. 53):
“Every type of sport carries within itself a rich patrimony of values, which must be always kept present in order to be realized. The training in reflection, the proper commitment of one’s own energies, the education of will, the control of sensitivity, the methodical preparation, perseverance, resistance, the endurance of fatigue and wounds, the domination of one’s own faculties, the sense of joy, acceptance of rules, the spirit of renunciation and solidarity, loyalty to commitment, generosity toward the winners, serenity in defeat, patience towards all - these are a complex of moral realities which demand a true aceticism and validly contribute to forming the human being and the Christian.”
I shared this with my Exercise Physiology class this morning as we began to sum up the physiological adaptations to endurance and resistance training, tying it in to 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27 (Everyone who competes goes into strict training). We talked a bit about the value of training, of being trained, of assuming a lifelong commitment to growth through training, and how it enhances our performance as God’s agents of renewal in the church and society. Not surprisingly, students are not fond of the modifier, “strict” that Paul places in front of the word training!
We are not disqualified from the prize when we fix our eyes on Jesus- the author, the perfector, the starting line and the finish tape, the coach and the fan- Jesus gets us started, keeps us running, qualifies us for the prize, and meets us at the finish line with arms outstretched.
I’d write more, but it’s training time. Blessings!
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