Parakalein

Last week I visited with my grandson from Seoul, Korea the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA.

Back in the day when James Naismith walked the streets of Springfield, he had an idea prompted by a focus of heart and on God.  This was when kids were getting in to trouble because they had nothing to keep them out of trouble, and when people who worked for the YMCA were very clearly and decisively Christian.  He had joined a movement called "Muscular Christianity".  This was a movement that believed that it was not just about soul and spirit in the monastic tradition but it was about nurturing the whole person.  All the body parts, all the emotional parts, all the spiritual parts.  It was a "Wholisitc" before the word "Holistic" was adopted.  The sport of basketball got kids off the street not only in Springfield but gradually all over the world.  today it is one of the Summer Olympic events.

From that orientation of faith and health he put a peach basket on a pole and used a round object later to become a basketball to encourage people to put the ball in the basket.  That was the beginning of what today is a sport that in the flow of its inception continues to take kids off the street and in some instances give them a life they could never have had without it.  A gift that keeps on giving is at the heart of the true Christian orientation and catalyst of love and peace in the world.

Christianity is about Building muscles in the body, faith muscles in the spirit, and courageous muscles in the soul.

It is about the gospel for the whole person and the whole person the focus of the Gospel.