• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • United Church Funds
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Gender & Sexuality Justice Ministries
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Wellness Ministries
            • Scouting
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • Global H.O.P.E.: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • Into the Mystic
  • Predilection

Predilection

by Dorhauer, John | published on Jul 16, 2021

Listen to the podcast

Picture of a palace with the words, “It has been said of us that our bodies are holy temples, our minds like palaces”

Read the transcript

I have a predilection for friendly competition. I always have had.

Games of chess with my children.

Rounds of golf with my siblings.

Card games with my spouse.

Trivia contests with friends.

Mac and Cheese bakeoffs with co-workers.

I don’t need to win anything. In fact, I take more joy in the successes of others than I do my own.

But I love exploring the ways in which we all pursue a level of excellence that demonstrates, tests, or challenges the full capacity of our abilities. I’d rather do that with friends with whom the competition is more important that the outcome. When others take the winning or losing as some sort of commentary on their worth, I lose interest.

Skakespeare’s Hamlet says it this way:

“What a piece of work is man. How noble in reason, how infinite in faculty! In form and moving, how express and admirable! In action how like and angel, in apprehension how like a god!”

When I either engage in friendly competition with others, or waste a watchful hour bearing witness to their artful efforts while I spectate, my heart sings at the nobility and beauty in human form of which Shakespeare writes.

It has been said of us that our bodies are holy temples, our minds like palaces. Whether in art or literature or sport or intellect, something there is that loves excellence in another or ourselves.

As a child, I would thrill at how the neighborhood would gather and the children would choose up sides and play: foursquare, fuzzball, hopscotch, stepball, wiffleball, frisbee football, mother-may-I. It didn’t matter what we did – we just always found a way to while away the hours and enjoy each other’s abilities, testing our limits against theirs and taking pride when new levels of excellence were reached.

A favorite memory of mine happened in the one year I taught high school. Among the many things I did that year, I was the assistant track coach. We had a young woman on the team who loved running. She always finished dead last in the distance races she competed in – but never minded. Finishing for her was the goal, and she took great pride in it. She was often lapped by the leaders.

Towards the end of the season, we were in a large meet. Lots of schools. Late in the day, she ran her two mile race – and once again found herself well behind the leaders. But for the first time all season, she wasn’t alone. Another competitor from another school was taking up the rear with her. Long after the front-runners crossed the finish line and all other competitors had ended their run, those two ran a full lap with each other side by side.

The entire stadium stopped what they were doing. The long-jumpers paused. As did the shot-putters, high-jumpers, and pole-vaulters. Other runners who had been stretching and preparing for their upcoming race ran to the inside of the track to watch.

The fans began to take notice. As the two came around the final turn, and for the first time ever for either runner, the crowd was focused on them. They ran their hearts out and crossed the line together, each trying hard to outdo the other. As they finished, there was a roar of applause. The two looked at each other and embraced.

Yeah, I have a predilection for friendly competition. I think it brings out the best in us. I give God thanks for the joy we take in testing our abilities against others and broadening our limits. May we all celebrate what body and mind can accomplish on this, our journey Into the Mystic.  

Categories: Column Into the Mystic

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

Witness for Justice

“Large” Policy

One hundred and twenty-five years ago, the United States was in the throes of a most vibrant...

Read More
Witness for Justice

Profits Over Responsibility

The climate crisis has been identified as the most pressing global issue of our time. Global...

Read More
Witness for Justice

I Want to Believe… that Economic Justice is Out There

Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • How can I find local churches near me? Click here!
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative