The Joy of Athletic Customization

I am writing this just about a week before my power soccer team departs for the Founders Cup in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We will be competing with teams from around the country, and to say that I am excited about the opportunity to do this again would almost be an understatement.

It is interesting to think about this type of competition. We are people with disabilities playing a game that was designed specifically for us. I guess you could say that power soccer was obviously modeled on able-bodied soccer, but the differences are substantial. Whenever I am asked to describe what power soccer is, I usually talk more about basketball and hockey than I do soccer. However, even within those comparisons, there is the undeniable truth that this is a very different game than any of those.

The customization is a large part of what makes it special. We are able to compete in a specific game that is built for us. It is not as trying to fit into a different type of game that we might be able to do but will only be able to achieve a certain level of success.

As an example, let’s pretend that I wanted to play golf. If I was going to attempt to play golf, it would take me about 300 hits to drive a golf ball 300 yards. Technically, I suppose I could play the game, but it would obviously not be something that would be suited for me. It would be me trying to fit into a game where simply I don’t fit. You could give me a 299 stroke lead on every hole. That way, I hypothetically would be on a level playing field was someone who can drive a golf ball 300 yards in one shot, but you can see how this causes a poor fit into the nature of the game itself.

Customizing game specifically means that you don’t have to adapt the rules. Some people like the above type of inclusion, and I can somewhat see why. I know my example little bit ridiculous, but some people do appreciate altering the rules as it were to allow them to compete in the same event with everyone else. For me, I know who I am and I am quite secure in the ability I do have. Consequently, it means a lot more to me to have a specific game where I am able to compete in something that I am able to do.

Taking this illustration a step further, any victories I have or any defeats I take cannot be attributed to anyone else. For example, in my above example, let’s say I beat someone with that kind of lead given to me to try to make it a fairer competition for me. I appreciate the intent, but after my victory, we all know that the person who I beat would probably be thinking that he would have emerged victorious if I didn’t have such a heavy handicap.

You might say that my competitor is just being a sore loser or something like that, but you have to keep in mind that in these scenarios, the rules of the game have been modified to allow me to even be competitive. If everything was equal, I would have been beaten really badly. Something seems wrong to me when, again, the game does not fit me personally. Perhaps I have played as good of a game as I could, but based on what the game of golf actually is, the simple fact of reality is that my game is not all that good. The only way I can win is if the fundamental rules of the game are changed to allow me to do so.

Again, coming back to power soccer, it is something that I am able to do myself, so any victory I have can be attributed to my own ability. Intellectually, I understand that if I play well, I can win. I might not win, but it is not as if the threshold of victory is too high for me to ever be able to achieve. If I play to the best of my ability, it is a game that is specifically designed for me to be able to do well and hopefully triumph.

This is why it matters to develop things that are specific to you. It matters if something is the right fit. All of the benefits of competition can be truly experienced when the atmosphere is actually right. I worry about that especially in our world were often times simply acknowledging differences can be seen as hateful or downright evil. At least in my experience, recognizing what makes me different has allowed me to embrace being a part of a different sport. Able-bodied people do not play it. They have their own soccer, and that is a great game. We have our own soccer, customized for us.

I have two consequent options. On one hand, I could deny I am any different than anybody else. That’s of course an option. I could say that the only reason I was not a soccer star was because they would not adopt a game of soccer to allow me to compete. If you do that, soccer is no longer soccer. It might be some different game, but it doesn’t remain soccer anymore.

On the other hand, I could accept the fact that able-bodied soccer simply is not the game for me. I can’t walk, that should be a pretty obvious fact. Fortunately, some great people developed a great game for people like me to play who want to have a real sport but cannot do it in the traditional way.

Does this mean that I have to come face-to-face with reality in a way that some people are not used to doing? It absolutely does. It means look at the objective truth that there are certain things about me that don’t change the matter how much I might want them to.

The acceptance of an alternative means the denial of the primary. Many people don’t like that, but when I consider all of the joy that I have experienced through the alternative and the joy that I have seen other people have through being able to play power soccer, I can’t help but think that these alternatives are truly the better way.

Reflecting on the Good of Technology

I’ve spent the better part of the last week watching power soccer. The Nations Cup has been taking place in Finland, and the top five teams from the European zone will earn the right to compete in the 2021 FIPFA World Cup in Sydney, Australia.

I can’t help but think how remarkable it is to be able to live in the time when I have the ability to watch something that I enjoy from across the world. A great deal of thanks obviously goes to Power Soccer Shop who provides the video stream. Without them, I would not be watching this, but even as recent as 25 years ago, even with all of the best intentions in the world, I would not be watching power soccer in Finland. The type of technology that would have been needed that at time to broadcast across the world was simply not accessible to normal people. Unless you were a major media outlet, this type of programming simply was not an option.

This came to mind because recently I have been talking to people about the virtues and vices of technology. A lot of times it is really easy for us to get down on technology. It makes it easier for people to do lots of bad things. It is often times said that technology is just a tool. The way that we use it determines whether it is good or bad. Obviously, people can do a lot of bad things, even with just a simple computer. However, I couldn’t help but be grateful for the technology that allowed me to be able to watch a sport that I love to play from across the world.

From purely a power soccer perspective here, this tournament also served to open my eyes. Just like able-bodied soccer, every country plays with a very distinct style. When you watch a team from the United States play, you can simply tell by the style they play that they are from the greatest country in the world. When you watch the British team play with their wide-open style and emphasis on passing across the court, you would know even without looking at the uniforms who was playing. The French play a different style completely the emphasizes the skills of their top two players and attempts to free them up to make plays on the ball.

For someone like myself who has very little international exposure beyond the United States and Canada, it always amazes me to see how different countries interpret the same game. The strategies that play out on the court are sometimes effective and sometimes not, but having the ability to compare and contrast is certainly valuable to players. Who knows what strategy from Denmark or Finland may be able to effectively help an American team as we all descend on Fort Wayne, Indiana next month for our own national tournament? Could there be a set play that France executed perfectly that ultimately inspires an American team to try it? Could that same set play determine the American national champion? Sure, why not?

These are the types of things that technology makes possible. I can’t help but think of that scene in Miracle where the American team is watching film reels on the Soviet men’s hockey team. That is what they had to deal with. It wasn’t real time, and it wasn’t widely available. They couldn’t just go online and find film to learn. We have so many more resources available to us right now even for a much more obscure sport that has only recently started gaining some national popularity. That is something that is pretty amazing about technology and how it has interacted with our sport.

Beyond that, when we play power soccer, we play matches maybe once a month. Sometimes a little more, and sometimes a little less, but I would say that is about average. What you do during the weeks in between your own games? It is great to have something else to watch. It helps keep your mind turned on. For example, we had games last weekend. We are not going to play anymore matches until the middle of June when we are at nationals. That means we are talking about a month without games. We have practice, and obviously we work hard during those sessions, but it is a little bit different. Consequently, even though these are not games that I am playing, getting plugged into that kind of atmosphere, even though I am not literally there is useful. It helps me think about what I need to do, how I need to react, and what I should think about in certain situations. It may seem kind of odd, and it might not seem to make a lot of sense. Watching power soccer on the Internet is very different from playing it. That said, some of the thoughts of the same, and it helps me to have those thoughts more than once a month.

I guess when it comes right down to it, I know that technology is the type of thing that can be abused. I know there are plenty of times that even I myself have complained about all of the ways that technology has weakened community and changed the world in less than favorable ways. However, that being said, it struck me as it was watching that it is really important for me to step back and think about, specifically for our sport, how it has changed things for the better.

What Our Attachment to Characters Tells Us about Cultural Apologetics

If you are too upset over the fact that Game of Thrones is ending, don’t worry, there is an answer. You can go to a counseling session to help yourself come to terms with the fact that this show that I have never watched but millions have is coming to its conclusion. I heard a clip about this phenomenon on TV, and I was doing a little reading online when I came across this article from WFSB. I thought one particular quote in this article highlights both the opportunity for cultural apologists to engage with those around us and the difficulties of this engagement in 21st-century America.

Here is the quote:

"We watch them to escape our daily lives and immerse ourselves into the 'unknown,'" Lynette, a counselor from Bark.com said in a statement. "This is the very reason why we sometimes become addicted to watching them, the stories they tell become part of our identity."

First, let’s talk about the opportunity. Clearly, this sentiment reinforces one of the most important facts that cultural apologists have been contending for. People respond to narrative. People enjoy stories and want to be a part of stories. When they see something on TV that really resonates with them, they understandably react to it. Cultural apologists need this fact to be true or else the entire endeavor of this discipline really goes out the window.

For the cultural apologist, we are part of God’s larger narrative. From creation to the end of time, God has set a story in place, and we are parts in that story. Consequently, it is no surprise that when we come in contact with stories that people have sub-created to use the word coined by J.R.R. Tolkien, we recognize that any truth in that story is drawn from the truth of the greater story that we already innately and perhaps subconsciously recognize define our existence.

As an example, you may or may not know that my favorite movie has always been Remember the Titans. For those of you who may not have seen it, it chronicles a football team as they struggle to come together when their two racially segregated high schools merge. It was not easy for them to overcome the racial tensions of their time in their culture, but due to the leadership of namely their African-American head coach Herman Boone, they are able to come together as a cohesive unit. There are plenty of bumps along the way, but a major part of the beauty of the story is the fact that we see them come together. We see that which is wrong, racism, confronted, addressed, and ultimately triumphed over. At least for me, it awakens something. It reminds me that even though we live in a world that may be full of injustice, it is possible for good to come out on top. It encourages me. In fact, I think it encourages a lot of people. That is why it is such a popular movie.

Why does this happen with this particular theme? As a cultural apologist, I would suggest that the answer is relatively simple. First, I would argue that, according to the Christian worldview, we are created in the image of God. Therefore, we are designed to love what God loves. Looking at the history of the world as well as what we know about the future from God’s world, we know that there is a time when evil will be eliminated and justice will win. Every tear will be dried and there will be no more pain. That is part of God’s story. Seeing a beautiful story like Remember the Titans reminds us for a brief moment what that ultimate satisfaction will feel like. It is still imperfect here on earth, but it is almost like giving us a taste. We know it will only be better when we have the entire dish, but the taste is still wonderful. Stories that are consistent with God’s story and consistent with what God loves unsurprisingly resonate with also as well.

If this is true, then I don’t think we can avoid the remarkable opportunity here. If humans are actually designed to resonate with stories, then why would we not use stories? Even setting aside the content of the story altogether because I know that Christians in particular are quite divided over Game of Thrones itself, the fact that people are becoming this attached to stories and recognize that about themselves enough to be willing to seek out counseling means that we have the opportunity to maybe explain to them why stories matter so much to them. Maybe we can tell them why they order people created in the image of the master story maker Himself. That is the opportunity.

Here is the challenge though. We have to be disturbed by the fact that people are this wrapped up in virtual worlds. This level of attachment to a TV show is certainly not healthy because need to remember how this whole process works. Stories help us enhance our own world. By learning about something in Narnia for example, it is supposed to awaken me to a truth about my own world. When I am in Middle earth, I see the nobility of Aragorn and inspires me to act nobly myself here. There is a connection here from stories to the real world. Stories are not supposed to cause this type of problem in my real world experience.

This is a question then that considers what kind of people we want to be. Yes, it is super important to continue talking about stories. They are vital. I would not be a cultural apologist if I did not think so. That being said, we are on the brink of technological breakthroughs that can embed us in a story. If you consider the range of virtual-reality devices, all of your senses can tell you that you are in a situation you’re not actually in. You are part of some type of narrative that is not yours.

This happens when we read the book as well. We are transported into a story that is not ours, and that is healthy. The substantial difference emerges when those lines are blurred particularly because of the highly sensory experience of virtual-reality. It is not hard for me to look down at the book, let my mind wander, but look up and realize that I am still in my living room. Imagine the implications of every one of your senses telling you that you are in a different world. Your imagination will soon start to believe it.

The major theological problem with this situation is that we are not designed to be a part of these stories. We are designed to be parts of God’s story for the world. That’s why it resonates with us. That is the opportunity. We have to get people connected with the enchanted nature of our world and the fact that we are little parts of the bigger story. The challenge is not running away with that to the extent that we find ourselves disconnecting even further with the truth of God’s story. We build little universes of our own, made to our liking, and we find ourselves in something entirely foreign.

On one hand, that may sound appealing. After all, if I was in my own world made in my own mind, would I have to deal with all the different problems in my own life? Couldn’t I make everything right? The fundamental problem here may seem obvious and overly simple, but no matter how many devices we construct to hide ourselves from reality and to hide reality from us, we still occupy the real reality. You can cover it over, dull it, avoid it, deny or minimize it, but it will still be there and we will have to deal with that reality.

Consequently, we think about this seemingly addictive power of stories, we need to recognize both the opportunities and challenges that we face in 21st-century America. The opportunity is the same as it has always been. People are designed to connect with stories. We are designed in the image of God and therefore love stories in the image of our great story maker. The challenge is that we can become attached to these stories to the extent that it leads us to deny the story we are actually a part of. With modern technology, the potential is there for this attraction to stories to lead us to the fundamental denial of the real reality. That’s the challenge.

Let’s embrace the opportunity, challenge the potential problems and do what we can to help people recognize God’s story. After all, that’s what it’s all about.

Where Is Tolkien's Faith?

I recently read a movie review for the biopic Tolkien written by my former professor Dr. Michael Ward. I have to admit that when I saw that this movie was going to be released, I was really excited. He is a fascinating historical figure, and I was hoping that the film could do him justice. That said, Dr. Ward’s review has me highly concerned, and there is one thing that I have noticed in my time studying Tolkien that seems to becoming more and more common yet remains problematic.

“This handsome, earnest, yet overstuffed and poorly paced film deviates frequently from the historical record. Most seriously, it ignores Tolkien’s devout Christian faith: there is no indication that he served Mass daily as a boy or ever even entered a Catholic church. His punch-ups with Wiseman and drunken night-time profanities are, in comparison, unimportant inventions.”

Modern Tolkien scholarship has very little place for seriously understanding his devout Catholic faith. Even just reading the edited collection of his letters that was compiled by Humphrey Carpenter, you cannot help but notice that he was a very devout believer, and there is no way to deny that his faith impacted his writing. Even if you are so blind as to not even see the Christian worldview present in Middle-earth, it is simply unreasonable to fail to mention his faith as one of the most formative influences in his life as a matter of biographical note.

That raises the question as to why this seems to be the case. No one has to endorse his Catholicism. No one has to say that he was right in his beliefs. However, it seems that there is some type of intentional plan to disregard this element of his life. I recently took a class specifically on Tolkien, and we spent a lot of time reading the recent academic literature on Tolkien in journals whose purpose is to study his writing specifically. Very few articles analyzed or mentioned his religious beliefs. That seems highly problematic to me.

The main problem is that when people are very religious, that religious perspective influences the way that they view the world. For Tolkien, he did not set out to write an allegory. He was very clear about that. However, the thoughts that came into his head were largely Christian thoughts. As he was sub-creating this world, when he began to think about what might happen or how the world should work, it simply makes sense that his world would be influenced by his own thoughts. We know that as a devoutly religious man, his thoughts would also be influenced by his faith. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense that his writing would be influenced by his faith, but no one talks about it. If they do mention it, it is largely as a side note rather than as a central theme that deserves a great deal of consideration.

I still haven’t really addressed why this willful ignorance matters. Why don’t people want to engage with Tolkien, the complete man, instead of Tolkien, sans religion?

It seems to be the case that Tolkien, the complete man, makes people uncomfortable. His stories seem to be so true and consistent with human nature. He has understandings of heroism, death, immortality, time, suffering and so many other topics that are remarkably perceptive. Very few people deny that if they are serious scholars. Most people realize that his stories are certainly fantastical but do not feel inconsistent with the way the world is.

As a result, scholars, realizing this, have to figure out why Tolkien’s understanding of the world seems to be so accurate. However, they cannot follow the simple process I outlined above. They cannot say that his faith is what led him to write stories that seem so true. If they acknowledged that, then the inevitable conclusion would be that Christianity put forward a belief system that makes sense of the world around us.

That’s where the current faith commitments, or lack thereof, of the modern academy do Tolkien a great disservice. Rather than acknowledge the simple fact that he was devoutly Catholic, he wrote stories that seemed highly consistent with human nature, and they very well might be a connection between those two facts, they go to whatever lengths they can to find alternative explanations. After all, it cannot be the case that someone who views the world from a biblical worldview actually has an accurate understanding according to the secular academy. There is a prior commitment to not believing in the truth of Christianity, so even if it is a possible explanation, and perhaps probable explanation, to explaining why Tolkien wrote what he wrote, they cannot acknowledge that fact without undercutting their own assumptions.

I know that I may sound like some type of conspiracy theorist here. You may say that academic freedom dictates that truth will be followed wherever it leads. I would agree that that is perhaps the ideal of the academy, but particularly in the case of Tolkien, that just does not seem to be the case. There are obviously Christian scholars who study Tolkien, and there are certain outlets for people who want to present a more comprehensive picture of the man himself, complete with his religious convictions. However, by and large, unless these are Christian outlets in the first place that are obviously sympathetic to this dimension of his life, it just doesn’t seem to be the case that secular Tolkien outlets are even interested in acknowledging the important role that is religion inevitably placed in his writing. These are simply the facts of the situation, and as much as the journals would probably deny everything I’m saying, just go look through their tables of contents. You are going to find evidence supporting what I am saying.

Is there a way to address this problem? I’m not really sure. I see two potential options, but neither one is particularly probable. First, secular outlets could broaden their horizons and be willing to discuss his religious persuasions. That is probably the easiest option. The institutions and respected journals in the field are already in place, so it would make a lot more sense for them to just accept a different interpretation of Tolkien, the man, than perhaps their philosophical assumptions are willing to accept. I say this is the easier alternative, but changing philosophical assumptions is probably unlikely.

The second option is that there needs to be the development of new institutions. If these publications become respected and influential, then those who would formerly submit to secular journals would publish in these new, more comprehensive projects. The field could gravitate away from journals that have problematic philosophical assumptions that interfere with academic freedom and gravitate towards newly formed journals that are willing to consider a broader array of questions.

In either scenario, this is sad news about the most recent Tolkien movie. It is a shame that a highly formative portion of Tolkien’s life is largely ignored in a movie that is supposed to tell us about his life. It is really hard to do justice to his story without recognizing that reality. It would be the equivalent of trying to tell his story while leaving out the massive impact that World War I had on his creative endeavors. No one denies that, and no one should deny the equally important role that his faith played in his work.

A Place for Thinking, Discussing and Arguing

Let me tell you something I can’t help thinking about. It is something I want to do someday. I don’t know if it would be any type of financial success, so I need to somehow make a lot of money first before I jump into this venture in case it doesn’t work or drains my resources. I need to have the resources there to drain.

Picture a large room lined with bookshelves. On these bookshelves are books that I personally have chosen. They are books that I have personally read. The books span a variety of genres, but most of them come back to the most prominent themes in the history of Western civilization. You are going to find a lot of books about freedom. You are going to find a lot of books about Christianity. You’re going to find a lot of books about economics. You are going to find fictional stories of hope and courage. You are going to find beautiful stories of joy and love. In short, you’re going to find a rather limited and selective library full of specially chosen books. They’re not books only purchased to fill the shelves. Each book will be chosen for specific purposes.

Obviously, this will serve as a library. People will be able to check out books and bring them back. Education will be the chief purpose of this location.

This location will also be comfortably furnished to encourage people to join in fellowship. The room itself will not so much be meant for reading. It will be a social space. The books are meant to be borrowed and brought home. The actual space is intended for socializing. We all talk about random things every now and then, but this piece will be used for events. Book clubs will be a fixture, discussing books that are included in this collection. Everyone will be welcome, but the prerequisite for active participation is that you have actually read the book. Anybody can come and observe to understand how this type of discussion works, but if you have not read the book first, then you really have no right to talk about it. How could you even begin? These types of freewheeling discussions are good for bonding, and they sometimes lead to some really fascinating places. They have great value for what they are, but as we all know, there are times when we want to get deeper than just a casual conversation about a particular book or topic.

That’s why it would not end at that point. There would be some type of membership structure which people earn after participating in enough of the discussion sessions. At that point, there would be a form of publication put out by this facility. It would be nothing formal. Perhaps it would be nothing more than a monthly newsletter, but members who have earned the privilege and understand the mission of this type of organization would be able to contribute pieces to this publication. Each month, they would have the opportunity, if they so chose, to present their papers to the body. At that point, iron can sharpen iron. Ideas could be critiqued, debated and ideally made even better. I could hypothetically write something, present it to the rest of the members and be questioned severely. Those questions might make me rethink my ideas. That’s a win for me in the long end. I have moved from a position I held that was incorrect and have gone to a better spot.

I hope you can kind of see how this type of entity would work. It would begin with the foundational ideas. The books are necessary. As part of my doctoral program, we read a lot of material from the Great Books of the Western World. The book collection would go beyond this excellent compilation from Mortimer J Adler, but I think you kind of see the types of works I am aiming towards. People can read them, learn from them and ultimately inform their own worldviews more effectively.

Once we have encountered the ideas by ourselves, it is time to begin discussing them informally. By having a type of book club discussion, we would have the opportunity to not only give our first impressions but hear the impressions of others. I don’t know about you, but when I am at Bible study for example, sometimes hearing what someone else thought about a particular passage jars something in my mind that I had never thought of before. It is a more casual environment, but it forces me to think more deeply. You have to read the books before you can participate, but when many people participate, it is quite possible for each one that come away with a little bit more than they started with.

After having the experience and developing a slightly stronger perspective, it is time to put those ideas to paper. What I said, this would not be any type of formal publication, but it would be something that everyone would be able to read ahead of time, come to the talk prepared, ask questions and interact with the writer. This is a step beyond casual conversation. It is highly prepared conversation. It takes a different level of academic expertise. Anybody can just shoot from the hip and talk about something. Actually committing ideas to paper shows a different level of dedication. It means that you have thought about these ideals and put them in a specific order to present an idea as best you can. Again, this is another, higher level. It is good for our intellectual development.

Why would I ever talk about opening something like this? Why would I be creating some kind of club/library? I don’t think that people think enough for starters. They don’t engage with the foundational works that built Western civilization. Because they don’t do that, they are prone to wander after a variety of terrible ideologies. We need to stop that, so the beginning step is to introduce people to the ideas. Giving them an easy way to get their hands on this material is a great way to do that.

Second, we need to practice talking to each other. We are really good at yelling at each other on social media. It is a lot different to have these conversations in person, face-to-face. I think having a space where people can come, hang out on some comfortable furniture and discuss topics is great. We do that in Bible studies in the church, so why not do it with all kinds of topics?

Third, we need practice creating arguments and defending positions. Logic is woefully lacking in American culture. This type of structure almost makes me think of Toastmasters. They help each other develop speaking skills by getting together and actually doing it. Writing things down and actively critiquing each other after a presentation is helpful. It will develop our skills, and that will benefit people within the group, but it will also help them at work, with their families or really anywhere they have to handle difficult issues with other people.

Like I said, this is some type of bizarre business idea that I have no idea how to execute or pull off. I don’t think it would be profitable financially, so I need to make sure I have plenty of passive income streams to support me while I figure out how to do this. That being said, I think it would fulfill some of the greatest needs in our society. It would be good if people learned how to think, discuss and argue effectively and decently. Maybe this little dream organization I have could help do that.