You Win
In Good Faith Column
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In Good Faith
You Win
By MaryAnne Brown
Journal & Press
If you’ve ever been in the middle of a friendly disagreement, you’ve probably heard someone smile and say, “You win.” It’s an expression that has been around for generations. While no one knows exactly when it first entered our everyday language, the phrase grew out of athletic competition. Over time, it found its way into conversations far removed from the playing field. But it leaves me wondering: What does it really mean to win?
My own relationship with sports has often been shaped by my time as an R.N. working in the emergency room. While many people looked forward to Friday night football, I quietly braced myself for what might arrive at the hospital after the final whistle. Football injuries were never my favorite patients—not because of the players, but because I had seen firsthand how quickly a game could change with one hard collision.
That perspective followed me home. I still remember standing along the sidelines as my son played in his very first football game. The moment he was tackled, I heard the unmistakable crack of helmets colliding and I felt my stomach turn. Much to my relief, he eventually traded his football helmet for running shoes and discovered a love for track. I was happy to cheer from those sidelines with considerably less anxiety!
The experience reminded me that every sport carries its own lessons. Some teach courage through contact, others through endurance. Whatever the game, the real victory lies not simply in building stronger bodies, but in developing character, resilience, discipline, and respect for others. Those qualities remain long after the season has ended.
During these summer months, we are surrounded by sports. Television is filled with baseball, golf, tennis, and soccer. Parks and playing fields come alive as children, families, coaches, and volunteers gather for another season of play. Lawn chairs unfold along the baselines, coolers are opened, and proud smiles appear as young athletes chase fly balls, race toward home plate, or simply delight in being part of the game. What strikes me most isn’t simply the competition. It’s the community.
Ideally, sports have a remarkable way of bringing people together. Volunteers line the fields. Coaches generously give their time. Parents encourage, console, and cheer enthusiastically. Grandparents beam with pride from the sidelines. Neighbors who might never otherwise meet become friends over a shared season. For a few hours, people of every age, occupation, and background become one community. Perhaps that is why sports have always held a special place in our lives. They remind us that we were never meant to journey alone.
Pope Leo XIV has observed that sports reveal something beautiful about our humanity, teach teamwork, perseverance, discipline, humility, and hope. He reminded athletes that champions are not perfect people who never fall, but ordinary men and women who find the courage to rise again after defeat. That wisdom reaches far beyond stadiums and scoreboards.
Every one of us experiences setbacks. Illness, disappointment, grief, broken relationships, financial worries, and growing older all remind us that life is not always about winning in the conventional sense. Yet each challenge offers another opportunity to begin again.
In her book “Spirituality of Sport: Balancing Body and Soul,” Susan Saint Sing explores the connection between physical activity and the spiritual life. She suggests that physical activity can become something more than exercise or entertainment. Whether we run, walk, swim, garden, or cycle, caring for our bodies can become an expression of gratitude for the gift of life.
The ancient Greeks celebrated the harmony of body, mind, and spirit. They recognized that a healthy life involves more than physical strength alone. Our souls also require attention through prayer, reflection, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others. One without the other leaves us out of balance.
Similarly, football coach Vince Lombardi once observed, “The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.” His words reflect a timeless spiritual truth found across many faith traditions. In Christianity, Jesus consistently pointed beyond success toward service, compassion, and love. The Apostle Paul even borrowed images from athletics, encouraging believers to “run so as to win the prize”—not by defeating others, but by faithfully becoming the people we are created to be.
Perhaps the greatest victories are invisible. Winning may look like the athlete who helps an injured opponent across the finish line. Winning may be the young player who congratulates the other team after a difficult loss. Winning may even be an older adult who faithfully walks each morning, not to break records, but to honor the body that has carried them through many seasons of life.
Eventually, every scoreboard goes dark. The cheering fades. The trophies gather dust. Records are broken. Yet kindness, integrity, perseverance, humility, and love never lose their value. Those are victories time cannot erase. Perhaps that’s what God has hoped for all along.
So the next time someone smiles and says, “You win,” perhaps we might quietly ask ourselves a different question: What kind of victory am I really seeking? For in the game of life, the greatest triumph is not to finish ahead of someone else. It is to finish with a grateful heart, a generous spirit, and a soul that has grown stronger with every step of the journey.
Now that’s a win worth celebrating.
MaryAnne Brown, RN, BSN, MA is a music minister at St. Joseph’s Church and has a special interest in spirituality and health. She serves on the Retreat Team at Dominican Retreat and Conference Center in Niskayuna and provides grant writing services.
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