Three years since his passing, Dr. Noomen’s words still enlighten.
Minister and licensed psychotherapist Dr. Pieter Noomen
Dr. Pieter Noomen Weighs in on the So-Called Metaphor of War
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES, June 14, 2022 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Sports have often been called a metaphor for war. And if that’s true, do they ignite the desire to conquer and dominate? Or do they actually satiate it, and in the end, make humankind more peaceful?
Author and scholar Dr. Pieter Noomen had
a revelation about sports and wrote about it on his website (www.wordsforall.org). In a vision, he saw “hundreds of people seemingly engaged in one gigantic battle. Maybe it was more like fencing.” Noomen said, “their heads, arms, hands, feet, everything was covered. In their hands, they held something like a sword or laser rod.”The leader of one team said, “It is a great game … it is exciting to feel and express, or you could say, honor the strength of our bodies and minds and show off to the whole universe … it is endlessly awesome to be strong, to challenge, to be beautiful, alive.”
In this vision, Noomen says he asked the leader, "What about the not-so-strong-ones, do they lose the game?"
"Oh, no! Nobody wins or loses,” the leader said. “I do not understand that concept. It is magnificent to discover new moves, try them out, see others do it, and feel currents of pure energy getting shape and direction … It is about feeling the life force rejoicing when we connect. It is exhilarating to put our physical person on the line without any reservation. We are all different in skill, so everybody plays the game his or her way.”
Military Blogger T. Drake writes of the obvious parallels between football and war: “The players are warriors, the coaches are generals.” And to paraphrase the late comedian George Carlin, football is a “twentieth-century technological struggle, played on gridirons like Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium, with helmets, penalties like hitting, clipping, spearing, piling on, personal fouls, late hitting and unnecessary roughness. It’s rigidly timed, and it will end even if we've got to go to sudden death.”
As this is written, the NBA and NHL championships series are in full swing, Major League baseball is nearing its midseason All-Star Game, and National Football League camps will open soon. Some may say sports are just silly pastimes, but others — like Dr. Noomen — believe they can and usually do serve a better purpose.
The booklets on Noomen’s website speak largely about his belief system and often refer to messages he said he received from a higher power, but his words can resonate with all, regardless of faith.
Born in the Netherlands, Pieter Noomen worked as a psychotherapist and staff member at a Los Angeles church. He completed doctoral studies in theology and pastoral psychology at the Free University of Amsterdam and became senior minister of three Protestant churches.
An example from Dr. Noomen’s writings from his website, as we celebrate the finer aspects of sportsmanship:
"Sports, hobbies and all to-good-cheer-related events are … the consequence of clearing debris and opening windows. The human race, even in the mutilated form of its offspring on earth, still has some of the original inclination to go for the limits. In your world of sports, you find one of the more playful and innocent illustrations of this."
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