Business weekly posted an article at the end of last year that detailed 15 of the fastest growing industries since Donald Trump became president. I have been doing a blog series to point out what this may mean for us Spiritually or metaphysically.
#13 in Job Growth is working for a Sports team or club.
The reason why sports team employment has grown is quite simple. We are in a time where everyone has decided or has been forced to pick a side. We are suddenly realizing that America is not a melting pot, as we’ve been taught to believe.
We’re not a melting pot.
No, it’s a big flavorful stew. Filled with chunks, seasoning, textures, and layers. In the past we’ve been taught that America was a melting pot. Most often the product that was expected out of the pot was white. Every person, culture, talent, experience, and success was to be melted down and contributed to the great whiteness in this country.
No matter who invented what, contributed to what, nurtured what, the expectation was that a white male was to get the credit for it. For the most part, everyone else in the country agreed and conceded to what the white male wanted.
We don’t want to allow only white maleness to shine.
We either pretended to be like him or we shrunk ourselves, so that we would not outshine his superiority. Then something happened. We changed our minds and elected Barack Obama.
We as a country decided collectively that we would allow the non-white flavoring in America to shine and to show. We decided to let it lead us. Guide us. Define us. Grow us.
There is a backlash between growth and the status quo.
While the country has decided to grow and to allow our country to be a chunky flavorful stew, the powers that be have not. The majority of the people of this country are living a life filled with expression and freedom, but the leaders are not.
The leaders of this country are still white males. They run our television stations, our internet companies, our government, our banking industry, our school districts, our higher learning institutions, our healthcare system, and our justice system.
These leaders are using a small minority of the country, who want the white melting pot expression to be the country’s full expression, to make us all feel threatened.
This small minority is encouraged to use their guns, their voices, their violence, and their power to help the powers that be to keep the ultimate power.
This sense of threat causes us all to want to declare loudly what team we’re on. We want to fight to defend our right to be! We want to set boundaries which clearly show the we are not like “them!” Donald Trump was elected on this frenzied principle. It was used against us by outside forces all over social media. Since this sentiment has not truly lost any steam, but gained momentum, there is a chance that he will be reelected. We live the reality that we believe.
We want to be against someone to feel our own validation.
Boomer is against Millennial. Black is against White. Native-born against Immigrant. Woman against Man. Fat against Skinny. Gay against Straight. Religious against Atheist. Conservative against Progressive. Everyone seems to be taking a side on a team. Even on various teams if they intersect.
There is definitely a sense of having to be against someone else to feel validated within yourself. Not everyone has the courage to openly speak about who they are against.
An easier way to choose a team or to be against another team, without being too threatening, without scaring ourselves, our loved ones, and our coworkers is to cling to something well-defined like a sports team.
If we haven’t taken the time to clearly articulate what we stand for or against, while being clear that we want to stand for something, a sports team is an easy vehicle to ride.
Thus, this idea of being part of one team or another is flourishing. Sports teams are making more money than ever. We need to have a team to feel that we are not alone in our fight to feel validated.
The key is to remember that we are one.
In order for Americans to remember that we are one, we actually have to go back to before the country was created. We cannot look to the founding fathers and founding principles. because the country was founded on us not being one. It was founded on white males being supreme, and everyone else supporting that principle.
Tribalism is an ugly fact of human history. It can be found all throughout the Bible. The major religious book in our American society, justifies it. If we are Bible believers, why wouldn’t we?
Two reasons why we should overcome tribalism are:
- We were created in the image and likeness of God. One God. That makes us one. That’s how we were created, as one. We need to remember that going forth.
- Jesus, the person whom we claim to have created a religion after, shunned othering. If we truly believe in what he taught, then we should love and accept that we are one. Not better than one another, but one.
Self-validation and self-love is necessary.
A part of overcoming othering and tribalism is self-appreciation. When you practice self-love and self-validation, you automatically can make room in your heart to include others. You don’t feel threatened, inadequate, or like an imposter. You feel ready to spread love that overflows from your soul.
Jesus said that we should love others as we love ourselves. Implied in that commandment was that the love we have for ourselves would be the basis, the platform, from which we would establish love for others.
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