Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Peter SchinellerFebruary 17, 2012

LINcredible! Jeremy Lin has taken NY by storm. Before each game he and teammate Landry Fields have a ritual. He has been called the Taiwanese Tebow, but he is not Tebowing. He and Landry pretend they are paging through a book, and then raise hands and eyes to heaven. They explain that the book is the Bible and it is God they are playing for. They look to heaven for God’s assistance as the game begins.

Indeed, Lin, a devout Christian, was an active member of the Asian American Christian Fellowship while at Harvard. So let’s follow through —with a theological view—on his spectactular beginning with the Knicks.

Since coming to the Knicks, they have played LIN-spired basketball.

His LIN-itiation into the NBA has reached around the globe, possibly saved the Knick’s coach’s job. Tickets to Knick’s games, and No. 17 Knick’s shirts are selling like wildfire.

Not only does he LIN-spire the Knicks, but countless youths to be the best they can. Some sports commentators now see him as the LIN-carnation of the ideal point guard. He reminds older fans of Bob Cousy more recent fans of John Stockton.

He does make mistakes, a number of turn-overs, so he is not LIN-errant. And while the Knicks have won every game in which he started, eventually the Knicks will lose, because he is not LIN-fallible, and not yet LIN-mortal.

He says that if doesn’t play B-ball, “I would be a pastor.” And he looks forward to that when his playing days are over. But right now, he is preaching to a very large, world-wide congregation, from the basketball court. So let's enjoy the show!

Peter Schineller, S.J.

 

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
Vince Killoran
12 years 1 month ago
"They look to heaven for God’s assistance as the game begins."

God's "assistance" for what?
Bill Collier
12 years 1 month ago
Ooops. That should have been...

A LIN-teresting take on the the LIN-creasingly LIN-fluential Mr. Lin.

(If one is going to beat a dead horse, it's always best to go full throttle.)
Kang Dole
12 years 1 month ago
I find this professional athlete's public profession of how keen he is on Jesus to be very compelling. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find someone to baptize me-that's just how moved I am by this guy.
Bill Collier
12 years 1 month ago
A LIN-teresting take on the increasingly LIN-fluential Mr. Lin. ;)
Bill Collier
12 years 1 month ago
Call me asap, Abe, before your LIN-firmity begins to subside and you change your mind. :)
JR Cosgrove
12 years 1 month ago
I never heard of the guy till Tuesday night and since then in New York it has been unlinimeted Lin.  What a fun person to watch play, based on just the highlights.  I may start watching the Knicks again.  The NBA players are gifted athletically but it is still nice to watch a relatively small guy at 6' 3'' excel especially one who was overlooked by everyone including the Knicks.

Hopefully, he will be still be doing well this time next year.

Vince Killoran
12 years 1 month ago
Yes, yes Maria: "We find him in all things" etc.  But that is not a response to my question.I am asking whether anyone knows the actual content of his prayer(s).
Beth Cioffoletti
12 years 1 month ago
I know that I am wierd, but I have always been uncomfortable with the public display of prayer at sporting events - from the basketball players who make the sign of the cross before a foul shot, to whatever Tebow is doing on his knees, to this "They look to heaven for God’s assistance as the game begins."

Like Vince (#5), I would like to know what kind of "assistance" they are asking for - to win? to be the best one can be? ... This public asking-for prayer that centers around ME makes a mockery of the prayer that seeks to abandon and forget ones self.  Just the fact that this private sort of praying is done in public worries me.

The latest from america

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."
The Society of JesusMarch 28, 2024
A child wounded in an I.D.F. bombardment is brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on March 25. (AP Photo/Ismael abu dayyah)
While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.
Kevin ClarkeMarch 28, 2024
Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.
Stephanie SaldañaMarch 28, 2024