Photo: Flickr/cortniedee.
A few days ago a photo was posted on Twitter by the NBA. Somehow, this photo has been on my mind since I saw it.
In sports, two teams oppose each other under the pretense that they are enemies. Their fans may even dislike one another, (see Celtics / Lakers, Yankees / Red Sox, UNC / Duke, etc,) but in the end, athletes are mostly friendly with each other. Even when athletes get upset or physical with one another, they can remain friends (see Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest).
In the real world, people have a harder time getting along. People divide along political lines, religious lines and country lines.
The natural state of people is almost to be at odds with one another. Peace is not just the lack of war. Peace is the active interrelation of two entities in harmonious activity. The opposite of peace is not war, it is merely lack of working together. It is pretty easy for two entities to ignore each other, but that is not peace. Peace is working together. Yet, peace remains so elusive on a grand scale and an individual scale.
This is something that is really hard for me. I honestly (perhaps naively) believe that almost all friction and disagreement is a result of misunderstanding and miscommunication. At our core, we know how to get along but the reality of society and our environment confuses us into discord. Maybe I am wrong, but this what I believe.
That is why seeing this photo was so stirring. It was a photo that showed that when the context changes, when our environment is different, peace is so easy. Sports provides the context for enemies to befriend one another.
Are there two greater enemies in the world today than Israel and Iran?
And yet, below you will see a photo of the best Israeli basketball player, who is now playing for the Sacramento Kings, Omri Casspi and the best Iranian basketball player, playing for the Memphis Grizzlies, Hamed Haddadi. They look like the best of friends. Yet, in their home countries people are dying for their causes in defiance of the opposing cause…
Photo: Getty Images
It is my fervent wish and prayer that we can find peace. Not just peace between nations with differences, but personal peace within ourselves and within our relationships and communities.
Just think of this photo the next time you are about to pass judgment or prolong a disagreement. We can all get along, we can all be a part of peace, we can all unite under the banner of the human race and be tolerant of whoever we encounter.
Tolerance. Love. Peace.
Please.
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when i saw this picture the other day i was thinking about how sports often brings people together. i think that, more than anything else, is one of the reasons why i’m such a big sports fan.
There will always be people who think their narrow agendas are more important than the well being of their fellows. But it’s not due to miscommunication. Sometimes two enemies know exactly what each other is thinking. It’s because they know exactly what the other guy is thinking that leads to the hatred.