Kabuki Chronicle: Volleyball Coaching

22 November 2006

Lanky giants storm the net
If you’re a dwarf, you can bet
You’ll never see the trophy
©NnekaEdwards2006

Hi folks,

I am just sliding across to the sportier side of things to share some of my recent insights from the world of volleyball.

These past few weeks the Fifth World Volleyball Championships in Japan were held right here in Saitama; just two train stops from where I live actually. The school has often been abuzz with student chatter when the Japanese national men’s team used our gym for their practice sessions. Many of the players are over 2 meters tall, so they gained immediate student admiration.

I watched three of their games on television and let me tell you, they were all sensational - excitement from the first slam to the last dive. As I watched, all rolled up in bed in my blanket, yet metaphorically sitting on the edge of my seat, several things struck me. Here are some of my thoughts on what I saw:

- The umpires were perfectly fair. God is the umpire of our life. By extension, He is like the referee in a boxing match. In the natural, it can feel like the devil is beating up on us, but in the spirit realm, it’s the other way around.

- Tonight, the Polish team won a hard-fought match. As I watched them slam and dive their way to a win over Japan, I started musing: Now when they win, they’ll celebrate for a while and then start looking for their next challenge, and keep going like that until it’s time to retire; but something about that seems pretty pointless. It’s far better to score points with God, than to score points on a volleyball court.

- God’s people work like a volleyball team. We all have a part to play. When the crowds are cheering for that momentary star player who makes that sizzling smash, he cannot take all the credit. Other team members help set up the play.

- Every time the team member’s slap each others’ hands in celebration or encouragement, it reminds me of God’s exhortation that we exhort and encourage each other in song and scripture.

- The volleyball players are really tall, some being over 2 metres, as I mentioned before. Though we may sometimes look like dwarfs in the natural, in the spirit realm God sees us as giants.

- If either side had let up even a teeny bit, the other side would have surely surged way ahead. We have to give one hundred percent all the time. God wants us to be perfect as He is perfect. He commended Caleb because he had a different spirit and followed God fully.

- I admired the tenacity of the Japanese team. They go for everything; chase every impossible shot; go for every impossible opportunity; and sometimes still managed to win the point.

- I admired the Japanese fans who never waned in their zeal or fervor, even when odds were highly stacked against Japan. They are like the cloud of witnesses, cheering us on. The very success of people like Abraham, Joseph and Daniel is huge encouragement for us to keep pressing on in God. The very lives of those who grace God’s Hall of Faith, are part of the witness that cheers us on; and of course there are also those who literally cheer us on from the unseen realm. I guess that in that place you have the same kind of excitement you might find at an athletic competition. I like to think of it like that.

God somehow weaves the Truth of the Kingdom into the fabric of life. So that’s just a little insight from the volleyball perspective – play hard (give God one hundred percent effort), have fun (rejoice in the faith) and aim for gold (lay hold of God who has laid hold of us).

Ganbatte!

Nneka

p.s. Ganbatte (gan-bah-tay) = keep fighting; do your best; don’t give up; you can do it.