 by Barbara Milligan
Almost three years ago I discovered a spiritual practice by accident. Pickleball. I hadn’t started playing it as a spiritual practice. The pickleball court is not where I go to slow down and connect with that calm center inside me. Like most sports, pickleball is ferociously competitive. And competition doesn’t seem very holy. I’m trying to beat my opponents, not help them win or make the world a kinder place. And rather than focus on a sacred word, phrase, or image, I’m focusing on a plastic ball full of holes, which I’m trying to hit over the net and inside the court at my opponents’ feet or at a spot they can’t run to fast enough. How spiritually formational is that? At some point I discovered, however, that playing pickleball was forming in me a healthy humility I didn’t know I needed or wanted. I’m a little embarrassed when I can’t control the ball and everyone sees my mistakes. I hit the ball into the net repeatedly. I swat air. I freeze as the ball bounces past me. But so do the other players in my group—some less often than others if they’re former tennis players. So I’m feeling less alone. Instead of shaming each other, we build each other up by laughing at ourselves or by shouting, often to an opponent, “Great serve!” or, “It was the wind,” or, “Good try! You would have had to lie down to return that one.” I’m reminded, every time I play, that I’m human, that I have limits, and that much of life is beyond my control. I’m reminded also that I’m deeply loved by the One who created me with limits and that I can connect with that Love wherever I am. Even on a pickleball court. And maybe it wasn’t so accidental after all. What accidental spiritual practice have you discovered? Can you describe how it’s forming you? Or, how might you turn one of your present activities into a spiritual practice? Comments are closed.
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