Our longest running contributor, Self Help Africa Business Representative Ronan Scully shares his wisdom on life, religion and wellness.
What a great few under age and senior hurling matches we have had recently. Speaking of hurling matches, the All Ireland Hurling Final takes place this coming Sunday on the hallowed grounds of Croke Park. I hope to be going yet again to see this year’s All Ireland Hurling Final to see the two managers of the Clare and Cork Teams, Brian Lohan and Pat Ryan take charge of their two teams as they battle it out for the Liam McCarthy Cup in what promises to be an epic match.
Allegory for Life
Not everyone will play or have played Hurling in their lives. Many have, including myself. In this thought for the week I am hoping to illustrate the connections and similarities hurling and indeed most sports has to our life journey’s, a sort of allegory for life and how it can be a source of spiritual inspiration and life guidance for those willing to seek it in what might seem to be the least likely of places. Let’s see where this thought goes by taking a look at what Hurling and Sport can teach us.
It can help us make a “game plan” for life, it can teach us how to work hard to achieve a goal under unpleasant and challenging circumstances. Sometimes the way a hurling game goes doesn’t seem fair. Life is much the same. Hurling teaches us lessons about teamwork, brotherhood, sisterhood and fraternity. All throughout life we have to learn to go from being a leader to being a member of a team and working with others. The group or team that can organize, cohere, and work together has a distinct advantage over the one that can’t, and Hurling and most team sports teaches that lesson.
Hurling Fields of Life
As I said, next Sunday is the All Ireland Hurling Final day. For those of you who do not follow hurling, this is the culmination of the All Ireland Hurling Championship season, where the supposedly top two teams play each other to see who is the best. We all have favorites and deep down feel that team is the best. I thought it might throw some additional interest into the day by a discussion about Hurling and team sports and how it relates to life. In the movie Forrest Gump, Forrest quotes his mother saying, “Life is like a box of chocolates.” Well, today we are saying “Life is like hurling.”
The game of life is a lot like hurling and other team sports. You have to tackle your problems, block your fears, and score your points when you get the opportunity and take your goal chances when they come. I know some of you are probably thinking that hurling isn’t very spiritual, but I would dare say that there are probably more prayers said on All Ireland Hurling Sunday than on any other day. And in case you are thinking the whole idea of sports is not very Biblical let me refer you to the words of St. Paul in I Corinthians 9:24 as he uses sport as a metaphor: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
So, St. Paul is talking about the sport of running and boxing here. He doesn’t mention hurling but there certainly is a lot of running in hurling and the occasional boxing matches and only one team receives the prize. And that is the whole purpose of the All Ireland Hurling Final, to determine which team played the best this year and wins the prize of the famous Liam McCarthy Cup.
Talking to the manager
I always enjoy the All Ireland Hurling Final and I love to watch how each manager interacts with their team and how each player interacts with their manager. The better they interact with their manager, the better chance they seem to have of winning on the playing field.
It always reminds me of a story a legendary Offaly hurler and friend told me and it goes as follows – “A stranger was walking by Croke Park before it became the iconic stadium it is now. He was wearing the famous number 6 on the back of his jersey. He stopped to watch four children trying to hit the sliothar over the bar. They were at the far end of the field. The slitohar bounced to where the stranger was standing and he grabbed the sliothar and pucked it high. It went so high up into the air, it seemed to disappear into the sky only to reappear again on its descent.
The stranger was standing at least 80 yards away from the goal. The sliothar went straight over the black spot of the goal. The children went wild roaring, ‘no way!’ and ‘lucky shot’. The stranger yelled out, ‘One more shot!’ to which one child replied, ‘Ain’t no way he can do two. The wind is blowing.’ One of the children pucked the sliothar down to where the stranger was standing. He pucked the sliothar high again. This time, everything got quiet, even though the wind still blew as hard as ever. The sliothar again went straight over the black spot. The children were stunned.
One child pucked the sliothar toward the stranger again. The stranger lofted the sliothar up in the air the same way with the same result. One child asked, ‘Who are you, man?’ The stranger said, ‘I’m just passing through. Want to learn how to play hurling? I’ll show you how.’ The stranger worked with each child showing him how to improve his hurling. Every child improved immediately. It got so the children couldn’t miss. Suddenly, the stranger disappeared. Three of the four boys looked around and saw only an empty green field. One of the children’s mouths had dropped wide open.
He was frozen in place. They were sure they had seen a ghost. Suddenly, the stranger reappeared out of thin air. ‘I am not a ghost. I do what the manager tells me to do. Today I am a teacher, teaching you how to play hurling and other things about life. I taught you how to play hurling but I also taught you about more important things than hurling. Remember, I taught you if you don’t have a goal, you don’t have a game. I taught you that, unless you pass the sliothar and share the scoring, you lose. I taught you that, if you do not follow the rules, you cannot win.
I taught you that you have to be honest with yourself. You need to know what you can and cannot do. I taught you to develop the part of your game you do best. I taught you to play defense against the bad things of life and play attacking to keep the good things going. I taught you to improve your game and improve your character. I taught you not to repeat mistakes in your game but to eliminate the mistakes as soon as you can. You must quickly eliminate the mistakes, so the mistakes do not become a habit. I taught you to put others before yourself. I thought you in life, as in hurling, you won’t go far unless you know where the goalposts are.”
‘One more thing, you must always talk to the manager. If you don’t talk to the manager, the manager won’t talk to you,’ he said before disappearing again. The boys froze. One child said, ‘I think my mother sent this guy.’ Another child said, ‘No, your mother wouldn’t send a strange guy to teach us to play hurling. She’d send a Brian Lohan, or a Pat Ryan, or a Tony Keady or the great Johnny Flaherty or Sean Stack or some other famous hurling star.’ They all kind of laughed but the child persisted and said, ‘No, my mother is always praying for me. My mother is always talking to the “Manager of Life” about life.’
Sports Prayer
Let me finish with one of my favourite sports prayers that I prayed before football and hurling matches when I played a bit when younger, “Dear God, Thank you for this new day. It is such a privilege and a blessing to play football and hurling or any type of sport. Please fill us with energy and passion as we push ourselves to do well. Help us all to compete with fairness in our hearts and minds and give us the grace to accept success or defeat. Protect our health and bodies as we challenge, tackle and run today. Watch over all those present, the spectators young and old, and our nearest and dearest families.
“May this game celebrate sport, and be enjoyable for everyone. Thank you O God for giving me a body which is fit and strong, and for making me able to use it well. In my training, help me never to shrink the discipline which I know that I need and that I ought to accept. In my leisure and in my pleasure, help me never to allow myself any indulgence which would make me less fit than I ought to be. When I compete with others, help me, win or lose, to play fair.
“When I win, keep me from boasting; When I lose, keep me from making excuses. Keep me from being conceited when I succeed, and from being sulky when I fail. And help me always with goodwill and congratulate a better person who beat me. Help me to live so that I will always have a healthy body, and a healthy mind. This I ask for Your love sake. Amen”
Thought for the week
As your thought for this week, see where you need help from your manager. Listen to what is being told to you and try your best to get a good result. Believe in yourself to always play well on the playing fields of life! Let me finish with one of my favourite sports prayers called, “A Hurler’s Prayer” written by Seamus Redmond. I thought it was worth sharing at this time especially since the teams and supporters of Clare and Cork in the All-Ireland Hurling Final are preparing for battle on the great hurling field of Croke Park very soon.
A HURLERS PRAYER – “Give me O’Lord a hurlers skill. With strength of arm and speed of limb. Unerring eye for the flying ball. And courage to match them whatever befall. May my aim be steady – my stroke be true. My actions manly – my misses few. And no matter what way the game may go. May I part in friendship with every foe. When the final whistle for me is blown. And I stand at last at God’s Judgement Throne. May the great Referee when he calls my name. Say you hurled like a man, you played the game. Amen”.
(Ps…Any tickets to spare, you know where I live!!!!)
