After Jim Harbaugh led his Michigan football team to a national championship, he was hired to coach the Los Angeles Chargers professional team and was interviewed in the LA Times:
“The only job you start at the top is digging a hole, so we know we’ve got to earn our way,” Harbaugh said in his statement. “Be better today than yesterday. Be better tomorrow than today. My priorities are faith, family and football, and we are going to attack each with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind.” [i]
As a casual football fan, I know what an amazing career Mr. Harbaugh has had. We used to live in San Diego, and I always felt badly for the Chargers when they were uprooted from their natural habitat and relocated to Los Angeles. I hope Mr. Harbaugh can bring the Chargers back to being a great team. I like the idea that he’s coming not only with a great deal of wisdom and experience but also enthusiasm. I wish him well.
But I couldn’t help but wonder about that last sentence: what is it like to “attack” not just football but your family and your faith with “an enthusiasm unknown to mankind?”
I won’t comment on his family life because I know nothing about it. I do wonder: with this much enthusiasm, it must be quite a sight every time he comes home or starts the barbeque.
But what about faith?
Let’s look at the root meaning of the word: “…from Greek, enthousiasmos ‘divine inspiration…from enthousiazein, ‘be inspired or possessed by a god, be rapt, be in ecstasy,’ …from en = in + theos= god.”[ii]
So, there’s an ancient connection between “enthusiasm” and intense spiritual experience.
What would it look like for someone to “attack” faith in “an enthusiasm unknown to mankind?”
Does that person rush his family to every worship service? Does he sing every hymn at the top of his voice? Is he overcome with excitement when he puts his weekly donation in the offering plate? What would it be like to preach a sermon that spoke to Mr. Harbaugh? Would he leap up and declare, “I feel possessed! Rapt! I am in a state of spiritual ecstasy unknown to mankind!”
I don’t know if I’d be pleased or concerned.
I do know I was often full of enthusiasm early in my spiritual journey. But, in time, most of us experience disappointments and losses. Not every path we take ends up with us holding a championship trophy amid a cheering crowd. We welcome enthusiasm, but maybe with a bit of tempering after we discover how complicated life is.
In one of my congregations, there was a young man who was a gifted communicator. He was also very clear about what was right and what was wrong, and who was on the side of truth and who was not. A friend of mine came to hear him preach. I asked her afterward what she thought. “He’s a gifted young man,” she said. “I’d like to hear him again after his heart’s been broken.”
Over the years, when I listen to people describe personal experiences of “divine inspiration,” they often describe quiet, reflective moments when they saw or felt something in a new way. They don’t feel like they’ve attacked something and triumphed — they feel like they’ve received an unexpected gift. Such experiences humble us and expand our hearts. They don’t so much exalt us over other people as help us see others with respect and compassion.
I wish Mr. Harbaugh great success in his endeavors.
And I can’t wait for baseball season to start. In baseball, it’s not so much about conquering your opponent with unprecedented enthusiasm. It’s all about coming home.
[i] LA Times, Jan 26, 2024
Steve Jacobsen, Ed.D 