There is a saying which goes ‘Why do we often get bored or fall asleep during church, but totally wake up right after the sermon is concluded’?

There are two things that every participants’ attention should be uninterrupted towards. Church being the first, and athletic practice being the second.

Call me old fashioned, I did grow up during the 1980’s and 1990’s after all, but this is where a lot of youngsters drop the ball in my opinion.

Mass is a session where everything else should be ignored while we listen to the word of God. Practice, at the same time, is only as useful as WE make it.

Church is a place where we listen to the teachings of God before practicing them out in the real world. If we are not listening - because we are busy texting, talking or fooling around, for example - then we may as well have not even shown up.

Athletic practice is also what we make of it. Good practice makes for good performance - most of the time - and bad practice will surely make for a pitiful performance during game time. As the Bible says, we reap what we sow.

But just like attending church we cannot just show up to practice, put in a so-so effort and hope things will work out when it counts. That is just foolish thinking. That is like me thinking I can do whatever I want Monday through Saturday, drop $5 in the basket at church on Sunday and think I have been licensed to continue my erroneous practices. Religion doesn’t work that way and neither does sports. Nor should it.

This is the same reason why certain athletic teams consistently have prosperous campaigns and why others don’t.

Uninterrupted time means we dedicate ourselves to what we are doing in the ‘Here and Now’.

Problem is, we are often too distracted with other things that take our focus away from what is right in front of us and what is important; which is why practice and attending church can sometimes end up unfruitful.

Everyone owes their respective church and athletic teams uninterrupted time for investment and improvement.

Otherwise, we are just spinning our wheels and going nowhere.

(Rey Sifuentes Jr. can be reached at rataman2@yahoo. com).