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Wikipedia | Marie Lan Nguyen
Let the Games Begin!
January 22, 2018
As the 2018 Winter Olympics rev up in Pyeongchang, we trace the religious history of the Games, hear from a surfing priest, and learn about the spirituality of basketball.
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Olympic History, from A to Zeus January 22, 2018
We trace the religious history of the Olympic Games, from festivals to honor Zeus, all the way up to the 'Nazi Olympics' and the inclusion of female athletes from conservative Muslim countries. (We're looking at you Saudi Arabia.) From 2016.

David Goldblatt, sports writer and university lecturer at Bristol University, author of The Games: A Global History of the Olympics
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Baptized in the Sea, Spiritual Surfing January 22, 2018
In a soundscape of surf, sand and spirituality, Father Christian Mondor recounts how he began riding waves at age 70. In water, he finds a metaphor for the holy trinity. And in the surf, he finds a kind of baptism. From 2016.

Read Fr. Mondor's entry in the Surfing Walk of Fame! 

Christian Mondor, Franciscan priest living in Huntington Beach, in Southern California
Moshe Gray | Instagram
Meet the Orthodox CrossFit Rabbi January 22, 2018
Rabbi Moshe Gray tells us why he thinks CrossFit, practiced with purpose, can be spiritually uplifting, and why many religious leaders seem to let fitness slip by the wayside. In the end, Gray says, there's no excuse for neglecting physical health as we nurture our spiritual lives. From 2016.

Follow Rabbi Gray and his CrossFit progress on Instagram!

Rabbi Moshe Gray, executive director of Chabad at Dartmouth College
Under the Halo of a Basketball Hoop January 22, 2018
Onaje Woodbine grew up playing basketball on the streets, and found a ritual of transcendence there. He explains how basketball plays a religious and healing role for many young black men with little access to conventional forms of community support. From 2016. 

Onaje Woodbine, philosophy and religious studies teacher at Phillips Academy, author of Black Gods of the Asphalt: Religion, Hip-Hop, and Street Basketball