Sports Superstitions

I love football, and on gameday I usually wear a shirt to show support for my favorite college team. You probably do the same thing for your team. However, some athletes think they will actually play better by following certain rituals. 

Baseball legend Babe Ruth stepped on home plate with his right foot at precisely 3:15 pm before every home game. He never allowed anyone to clean his cap, believing all his home run power lived in the dirt and sweat stains. NBA star LeBron James throws powder in the air before each basketball game. Golf star Tiger Woods wears a red shirt on the final day of major tournaments believing the red color helps him perform at this best. 

Many sports fans also do certain rituals, hoping it will help their team to win. If their team is losing, they’ll turn their caps around backwards, thinking it will turn the score around. I know a football fan who believes if he watches his favorite team play on TV, they will start losing. But if he will quit watching the game, his team will start winning. Of course, not watching the game has nothing to do with his team winning. Its just a superstition.

A superstition is a false belief that doing certain rituals, or not doing them, can control outcomes and bring good or bad luck. A survey of 2,400 sports fans revealed that two-thirds are superstitious when it comes to game day: 50% wear a specific jersey every time their team plays, 44% won’t wash it until the end of the season, 42% will sit in a specific spot, and 62% blamed themselves for the team’s loss because they weren’t wearing the right shirt, or moved from their spot on the couch during the game. There’s nothing wrong with wearing a jersey, but believing that not washing it helps your team win? Really?  

First Timothy 4:7 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths.” Not just sports superstitions, not just pagan superstitions (Isa. 2:6), but also religious superstitions such as putting statues of Jesus or angels around their house for protection or blessing. That’s putting their faith in an inanimate object, which is idolatry (1 John 5:21). 

So have fun watching your team, and it’s okay to wear that jersey with your hat on backwards. Just don’t think it has anything to do with winning or losing. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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The Hardest Part in Learning to Swim

When I was a kid, I took swimming lessons at the local neighborhood pool. The easy part was when I grabbed on to the side of the pool while someone held me up as I learned how to kick. I passed with flying colors! Then came the hardest part of swimming—learning how to float. The instructor told me the water would hold me up if I would just relax.

Many people say, “I haven’t learned how to swim,” but what they really mean is “I haven’t learned how to float.” Once you figure out how to do that, swimming becomes easy.

I had thrown rocks and other objects into a lake and all of them sank to the bottom. It was hard for me to believe the water would hold me up because I was much heavier than the rocks I threw. My instructor told me to lay flat as he held me up by the stomach. Then, he let go. Just as I expected, I immediately sank! I went home that day embarrassed and frustrated.

The next time I went to the neighborhood pool, I tried again to float, but my feet would immediately drop down so I could stand up. I didn’t fool anyone when I did that awkward “half swim” where I walked along the bottom of the pool while moving my arms like I was swimming.

Then one day, I quit trying to float. Instead, I held my breath, put my face in the water and just went limp. For the first time in my life, I floated. The crazy thing was—the key to floating is not trying to float. When I totally surrendered to the water and quit struggling, the water held me up.

That’s how we learn to trust God. Inwardly we go limp. We quit trying in our own strength and submit to His power to hold us up. We say, “Lord, I’m completely depending on you to come through for me.” David continually put his trust in God. He said, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You ... In God I will put my trust; I shall not be afraid” (Ps. 56:3, 4).

Just like I learned to float by trusting the water to hold me up, David learned to trust God by putting his confidence in the Lord to hold him up. And we must do the same. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com  www.makinglifecount.net

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