Theological and spiritual reflections on sport and other cultural domains
 

“A Child’s Game”

Thank you to everyone who has wished me well and prayed for me after my fall. Your words of support have meant a lot to me. The physical recovery will take some time, but I am doing well in my spirit, grateful especially that I can spend a little more time with my parents before going to Rome.  I also have been enjoying having the quiet hours in the morning (I am up by 3am usually) to work on an article about the connection between Ignatian spirituality and the fact that the Jesuits have often been involved in situations where something ‘new’ was breaking in to cultures, the Church.

I was pleasantly surprised by the Intro to the Chiefs-Bengals game on CBS last Sunday. The piece asks questions such as why do we care so much about ‘a child’s game’ and what is the meaning of it all. These are the kinds of questions a philosopher would ask … and I’m glad they have entered our ‘mainstream’ discourse about sports. They are really asking about the human significance of our sports, apart from external goods such as money and fame. And they came up with a good answer, I think: We care and it means so much to us precisely because it is a ‘child’s game’ or play, which is enjoyable and done for its own sake.  When we play we are free. There is more to say, of course, but kudos to CBS for getting us off to a good start. (See the video below)

 

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