Whose Team Are You On? I know this may seem like a controversial question to ask on Super Bowl Sunday! I guess that s why it spoke to me.

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1 Whose Team Are You On? I know this may seem like a controversial question to ask on Super Bowl Sunday! I guess that s why it spoke to me. I am not sure Spirit wants us to be complacent. I believe we are meant to question our beliefs and what we base our thoughts and actions on. Last week we talked about being willing to live in the mystery, not trying to find a pat answer for all of our many human questions. Like who will win the big game today? Or, if your interests run to golf, who will win the Phoenix Open today? Or if you are waiting a bit for the opening of NASCAR season, who will win the Daytona 500? In the West, and the United States in particular, we have a culture of the rugged individual. We are pioneers, striking out in unknown territories, taming the wilderness and sometimes destroying much of what is in our path in the way of plants, animals and other people. The rugged individual typically pits one against all else. And so we had to begin to modify that philosophy. One is sometimes not enough and after all, humans are still pack animals. Indigenous people lived in tribes and the immigrants, the new people, came by ship-full to establish communities. People worked together for survival as much as for companionship. And then we developed sports! Did you know that the oldest sport in North America is Lacrosse? It is a sport that was being played by the indigenous people and was observed by the Europeans. In 1636, a Jesuit missionary, Jean de Brebeuf, wrote the first account of a lacrosse game played by members of the Huron tribe in Canada. The Cherokees called the game the little brother of war and played it as preparation for war to develop strong and virile warriors. The Iroquois still call it the Creator s game because it is considered a gift from the Creator, to be played for His enjoyment or as a healing ceremony. The current name evolved because French missionaries thought the stick used in the game resembled a crosse, a shepherd s crook carried by church bishops to show their authority. The game identified as America s pastime, baseball, did not develop until the 1800 s. And the popularity of football is much more recent. Like the indigenous game, many find team sports are still a ritual and ceremonial process that is a part of our culture. Being on a team requires not only individual skills but skills needed to cooperate and collaborate with others. I found an interesting online article that lists the top five skills necessary for effective teams: Communication, Conflict Management, Listening, Reliable, and Respectful. 1

2 These are not really skills we can develop in isolation. Without these skills, however, we find it difficult to be in community. People without these skills may be referred to as loners or divas or arrogant. They lack skills. Let s go with the sports metaphor for today and as I go through the benefits and challenges of teams, you can be thinking about some team you are on at work, a family unit or at church. One of the reasons stadium noise is so disruptive is that the teams cannot communicate. They can t hear one another and have to try to develop other ways of communicating. Without communication, only some people know the play and well, that doesn t work well. Imagine times you have not communicated well. I put that challenge that way because our tendency is to call to mind times we believe others did not communicate with us. And we can t control that. The only thing we can control is our awareness of times we have not communicated and ways we might build better communication skills. Now, let s say there is a conflict between the coach and the quarterback or the quarterback and the receiver. Somehow the conflict has to be resolved in order to move the plays forward. If there is a conflict on the field, it has to be resolved and dropped or the game will be disrupted. I think we ve all witnessed those unresolved conflicts that just continue to flare up and disrupt the play, result in penalties and can win or lose the game. Some of the conflicts and communication problems may be because one or both sides are not listening. Besides stadium noise, which rarely affects work, family or church, there are many things that get in the way of listening. We don t want to hear. We hear what we already believe instead of what is being said. We are too busy composing our being right speech to hear something else. We are distracted with our own issues and are focused on something else. As we have spoken about multiple times here in this very room, listening is a skill that takes practice to hone and develop. The only listening we can practice without others is the ability to listen to our own inner voice and spirit s guidance. On the football field, always doing what you tell yourself is right may not result in a successful and cohesive team. What we tell ourselves can be as much the voice of ego as it is of spirit and that discernment takes time and focus to develop. The superstar who believes he is always right and does what he wants may not be perceived as reliable by teammates and coaches. No matter what athletic skills the star may have, the team needs to practice together and to be 2

3 able to rely on certain plays being executed the way they practiced. There is always the gift of unexpected and improbable successes, yet in the long run, the teams needs the stability of reliability. We need people to show up at work, at home and at church as well. Finally we come to the issue of respect. The 2015 Kansas City Royals baseball team was an enigma because there were no superstars. No one expected them to win the World Series that year because they didn t have a superstar hitter; no pitching phenomena; no one player to carry the day. What they did have was a surprising demonstration of team work. They cared about and respected one another in ways that inspired each of them to be and do their best. The MVP of the series was the catcher on the Royals who made good plays but who was also the cheerleader for everyone on the team and being bilingual on a team with many Spanish speaking players, perhaps the best communicator. In a departure from past years, the Philadelphia Eagles, in this postseason play without the quarterback phenom Carson Wence, have talked more about team play than I can ever recall in the years I ve been here. Everyone is important, including the kicker. With a new quarterback, team relationships became the new focus. Anyone can win the game for the team. I really hope the Eagles win tonight because it stands for a team win. There will be talk, win or lose, about individual players including Nick Foles, Jake Elliott, anyone who fumbles or misses key catches or tackles. But an Eagles win will ultimately be about how they play as a team. The boring part for me is that if the Patriots win, we will only talk about Tom Brady. And I am just a fan of team play. This metaphor about teams led me to the challenging part of team sports and the way we use teams in general in the West we tend to turn everything into a competition. We engage in comparison in hopes that somehow we can see ourselves as better than someone else. In the West we like winners. In the East, if an individual sacrifices the good of all for personal gain, it is an issue of shame. In the West you get to be CEO--successful, ambitious and viewed with favor. Odd isn t it? The cultural differences. There are two ways I see us misusing teamwork AND the misuse, I believe, can be turned around. First, I see teamwork focused so intently on competition that the benefits of teamwork are lost. I have heard in many corners that the modern trend in 3

4 children s sports and challenges to not have winners and losers makes our youth soft and unprepared for the competition of the real world. I want to offer an alternative outcome: a world in which our youth are trained to inspire and support each other as well as to look within for the intrinsic motivation of doing their best. Why must there be a carrot out there to motivate us? Isn t it enough to want to show up for ourselves and others as our best self? What motivates these leaders of the future is to develop the skills of teamwork and to yearn not only to be their best but to encourage and support others in being the best they can be. It is a big shift for our culture. It may take generations to steer our culture towards being willing to look at unethical and unlawful methods that produce winners and hold ourselves accountable. As long as the team/company/family/church is successful, we have been willing to sacrifice attributes like reliability and respect. Winning is measured in lots of ways in the workplace, family and church. But if we are winning without enjoying the benefits of teamwork skills, is it really a win? As much as we love winners, we need to focus on how the greater good can be served for the survival and thriving of us all. The greater good for all is a political issue, a climate and environmental issue, an economic issue and it is a spiritual issue. Aside from using teams to focus on winning, we often use teams as a way to divide ourselves. When I ask Whose Team Are You On? you may believe there are right answers. The Eagles for today is the correct answer in Pennsylvania! Or since we are in church, maybe the right answer is Team Unity or Team Jesus or just Team ULV! And as soon as we pick a team, we begin to view everything and everyone else as them. And we do not treat them with respect; we don t listen or communicate with them; we have no motivation to be reliable for them; and the dynamic of conflict is inherent as we focus on the differences that make us us and them them. Any team we pick to be on creates a them. If we are team Unity, they become any other faith and certainly the atheists and agnostics. If we are team humanity, they become all the other creatures on the planet. If we are team earth, they are any other life in the Universe, for now unknown. Yet I do not believe that is what the teachings of Jesus intended. In Paul s letter to the Galatians, chapter 3 he interprets the teaching this way: There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. As we in Unity understand the deeper meaning behind the terms, Christ is really the connection of Spirit running through us all, by any 4

5 name and recognized or not. The greater good for all is a spiritual issue if we use our faith as a way to separate ourselves from others. One of the unique aspects of Unity is our position that there are many paths to Oneness. Claims of exclusivity lead to divisions and are not compatible with the teaching of oneness. The Galatians quote proposes to erase the illusion of lines between Jew or Greek and any other illusionary line we can erect. Love one another seems an instruction without exclusion and an expectation of how we are to take our faith and put it into use in every day of life in a way that builds oneness in community. This month of February seeks to elevate our awareness of contributions of African Americans and Women that may have previously been discounted. Increasing awareness of many contributions is part of building a consciousness of inclusivity, not exclusivity. We seek to include all in our consciousness of community and to see ourselves as a part of the great allness of creation. The greater good for all really has no circumference or dividing line. Unity often uses the quote: We are not human beings having a spiritual experience, we are spiritual beings having a human experience. So here is our challenge: living in the paradox of a humanity that sees duality and a divinity that seeks oneness can we use teams as a way of building skills for community and oneness without succumbing to the temptations of competition and exclusion? Can we see the purpose of a team as contributing to the development and contribution of each one as well as the whole? In tonight s game I pray for the safety and well-being of all the players, coaches and fans. May each one be the best self they can be. It seems silly in a philosophy of oneness to attempt to invoke the power of loving all to take a side! However the game turns out tonight, I d like to invite us all to see ourselves as team players. Each of us showing up as our best selves. In whatever laboratory you find yourself work, family or church see how you can develop skills in communication, conflict management, listening, reliability and respect for yourself and others. Keep in mind the greater good for all and notice any circumference or line you tend to draw that limits your understanding of all that you are willing to acknowledge and support. We are all Oneness. 5