Football, God, & Politics

Gentlemen,

The discussion of God and politics arouses more angst and fear in Americans than nearly anything.

People, at large, despise discussing these two things, especially with those who disagree, where the ever so uncomfortable potential of “offending” someone is present.

Both men and women, young and old, walk on eggshells when these topics arise in conversation. Why?

More specifically, why do so many men not want to talk about God and Politics?

Could it be the fear of jeopordizing one’s occupational standing? Sure.

Could it be the fear of offending someone? Yes.

Could it be the fear of disapproval and being disliked? Certainly.

Could it be the fear of being wrong? Could be.

Could it be the culmination of many fears that men can’t even articulate? 100%.

You very well could be one of the men that this describes; I know I have been in the past, reluctant to articulate my beliefs or go against the grain for fear of [insert fear].

If you feel challenged, good. My goal with this newsletter is to challenge those of you who believe you should refrain from openly discussing God and politics because I believe wholeheartedly that it is our duty to participate in meaningful discourse.

Before we proceed, it’s important to delineate what is meant by “politics”.

The term politics carries with it the drama and crap of mainstream media. What I mean by politics is really the current state of society and the progression or disintegration of it moving forward.

Discussing politics is not discussing what a presidential candidate said 48 years ago. Discussing politics is articulating the highest vision you have for your community and nation, comparing it with that of others, and determining how to rectify the difference and bring that vision into reality.

It’s Fear.

You might say,

“It’s not from a place of fear, I just don’t see the point in arguing.”

“It’s not from a place of fear, I just have better things to do.”

“It’s not from a place of fear, I just know I won’t change their mind and they won’t change mine.”

“It’s not from a place of fear, I just don’t want to burn any bridges.”

Firstly, it is from a place of fear.

Secondly, what else is there to discuss?

Your football team a.k.a. other grown men playing a sport while you watch - essentially athletic voyeurism? Celebrity drama? Your favorite beer? Your new grilling method for your pork butt? Your youthful escapades? Your mild gambling addiction?

I’ve spoken with men who’ve said “I hate politics” and proceed to discuss college football so passionately that they’re blue in the face and ready to physically altercate with another man about it.

What positive change could come to the world if men were channeling such energy toward the betterment of our communities and nation?

I’m not advocating to never discuss these things or things like them. I watch football on occasion, I discuss random and meaningless things with my friends, and love a good cut of meat on the grill. It’s very much so a valuable part of the male experience to chop it up with the fellas about the seeminly trivial things in life: it’s how we laugh, joke, and relate to each other in many ways.

I’m also not advocating for us all to walk around preaching all the time. If positive impact is the goal, rapport needs to be built first and rapport is a result of relating to one another, not preaching on a soap box to unsuspecting passersby.

I am advocating, however, that you earnestly ask yourself these questions:

• Do I discuss trivial matters more frequently and with more passion than important matters?

• If so, why? What am I afraid of?

• What positive impact could I make if I shifted the pendulum to more earnest exploration and discussion about important issues?

I’m also advocating that we, as men - and particularly young men who are building the world our children will inherit - be bold in our beliefs and willingness to defend them when the need arises or change them when we are confronted with a wrong belief.

The Fall of Rome

The powers that be want you to care more deeply about other men playing sports than about the state of our nation. If you, me, and every other capable male are distracted with the superbowl, we surely won’t see the turmoil our nation is in. And if we are too distracted to see any turmoil, we certainly won’t do anything about it.

We will, like the Roman citizens, watch the metaphorical gladiators with such zeal and excitement that we fail to realize our empire is falling.

It is important to note that I am not a father or husband and have yet to bear the responsibility of providing for my family. This is a serious weight to consider, especially when considering something that could jeopordize a man’s occupational standing.

As with everything, there is nuance.

I do know that I am optimizing my life to be able to freely speak my mind and defend my beliefs and that it is never too late to begin telling the Truth.

Understand that these distractions are prevalent for a reason. It is not by accident that the societal norm is to discuss trivial matters and avoid those of significance at all costs. YOU MIGHT LOSE YOUR JOB! YOU MIGHT UPSET JIMMY! YOU MIGHT MAKE SOMEONE THINK LESS OF YOU!

All things that pale in comparison to the loss of your dignity, duty, and honor from the failure to stand up for your beliefs or worse still, to not know what you believe at all.

What is one way you can instigate an honest and genuine conversation with a friend? A conversation that actually means something and that something truly positive can result from.

"If you stand for everything, you stand for nothing.”

“A friend to all is an enemy to himself.”

Onward & Upward,

Nolan

Gentlemen,

Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke once said,

“Let everything happen to you
Beauty and terror
Just keep going
No feeling is final”

This reminds me of a quote from my favorite novel The Count of Monte Cristo. When Edmond Dantes is speaking to a young friend he says,

“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.”

If Edmond is correct, which I believe he is, then only those that know the deepest sorrow can know the peaks of joy. Only those who have walked through the valleys of life can reach its peaks.

Why then our society so dead-set on reducing pain at any and all costs? Why will many men do ANYTHING and EVERYTHING to avoid feeling emotional, spiritual, and physical pain?

Because it’s easier and comfortable, and because when men do only what is easy and comfortable they are more easily controlled. There is no threat in a man who can bear no pain. There is no threat in a man who is unacquainted with terror and the overcoming of it.

The burn of a workout is too much to bear, so men watch other grown men play sports instead. The agony of heartbreak is too much to consider, so men shun the possibility of a committed intimate relationship entirely. The sting of divine discipline is too piercing so men don’t speak with God at all.

The enemy invests heavily in propogandizing the avoidance of suffering.

The enemy rejoices in a man’s consumption of transient pain killers.

The enemy preaches to the masses to avoid pain because pain is indicative of misalignment in life and if confronting that misalignment is avoided, so too is the challenge and discomfort of correcting course.

What would happen if pain was not avoided, but accepted?

How would your power and strength be enhanced if terror and sorrow was something you sought to valiantly overcome rather than cowardly evade?

How would the version of you capable of bearing pain and responding resiliently better show up for your loved ones? How would the life of your future sons and daughters be impacted?

The answers are evident; questions such as these need not be pondered on for long.

This is what Rilke is getting at in his poignant poem:

It is not in the avoidance of pain that we are strengthened, but in the overcoming of it,

And for something to be overcome, it must first be confronted. For something to be confronted, it must first be present.

The pain killers(not just medications) so prevelant in our society are meant to keep that which needs to be confronted out of reach.

They are meant to dull the heat from the stove to such a degree that we don’t realize we are burning our finger. It’s only when the temperature is felt in it’s real form that we are compelled to lift our hand.

We feel the temperature by accepting the inevitable pain of life as a mountain we MUST climb. We MUST reach the peak, lest we leave who God has called us to be waiting on the otherside.

That is the real terror of life.

The real terror is, at the end of life, having never met that man of destiny waiting on the otherside. The real pain is the pain that is left by those you leave behind because you never confronted it while you were here.

Pain is a feature of life, not a bug. It will come, that is a certainty.

We get to decide whether or not we confront it. If we do choose to confront it and experience the pain in full force, our reward is the new level of felicity that we are able to experience in full force as well.

Let it all happen to you, beauty and terror… just keep going.

May your courage, bravery, and fortitude be ever increasing.

Onward & Upward,

Nolan

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