The Lost Season

By Jeffry C. Beers

Out of the stillness come the world and all its happenings.
Returning to stillness we can find the peace that lies
underneath. The Lost Season is based on a true story and tells
of personal growth through taking lifes tests and accepting the
results. Jarred is a former football coach who is faced with a career
change. After meeting Isha, a bartender and philosopher of life,
Jarred begins to question everything as he learns to recognize
the authentic self inside us all by beginning to let go of the egoic
beliefs created in a lifetime of struggle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 21, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479794256

Jeffry C. Beers

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Copyright © 2013 by Jeffry C. Beers.

ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4797-9424-9

                   Ebook                                      978-1-4797-9425-6

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without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 02/19/2013

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Contents

CHAPTER 1      Epiphany

CHAPTER 2      The Power of Attraction

CHAPTER 3      Our Two Selves

CHAPTER 4      Isha the Philosopher

CHAPTER 5      A Lesson In Humility

CHAPTER 6      Growth Through Loss

CHAPTER 7      The Power of Words

CHAPTER 8      Listening to the Right Voice

CHAPTER 9      Life Connections

CHAPTER 10      The Journal

CHAPTER 11      Lesson From a Candle

CHAPTER 12      The Symbol of the Circle

REFERENCES

CHAPTER 1

Epiphany

The name of the town was Plainsville and on the surface, it appeared to be just that, a simple little town on the outskirts of a big city. The town had only one thoroughfare and there were very few businesses on it, lining both sides of the street for the whole of two city blocks. There was the local market, city hall, a drug store, the local post office, an old hotel, a deserted gas station, a tavern and little else. Indeed, there was only one stoplight in town, a flashing red light that all who approached must heed lest the wrath of the one county sheriff be provoked. The town itself was a sort of oasis, an island of houses and trees surrounded by rolling waves of wheat. However, there was much more to this little town than meets the eye, as Jarred would soon find out.

Jarred had been coaching at Plainsville for five years and by the third season the team had officially placed itself on the map, so-to-speak. That years’ team was comprised of mostly sophomores, a few juniors, and no seniors. Not much was expected from such a young team with no tradition. The school had just opened the year Jarred took over as head football coach and was only in the third year of existence. However, that season the team went to the district play-offs and just missed making the state play-offs after getting beaten by a senior laden team in the final seconds of the game. The next year, with only one senior, the team had exceeded expectations by making it to the state play-offs and going all the way to the semi-finals before losing to another senior laden team with a rich football tradition. Now, with a full squad and loaded with experienced seniors, this was to be their year.

Jarred was preparing for practice when one of his assistant coaches approached him, looking distraught.

Jarred, said Brent, I have something I want to talk to you about.

What is it Brent?

Can we go sit in the office and get some privacy?

Of course, said Jarred, follow me.

As the two of them walked to the locker room to go to the coaches’ office Jarred’s mind filled with anxious thoughts. What could be wrong? Brent doesn’t ask to have private conversations. He was one of the most light-hearted people Jarred knew. Brent was the kind of person that always had a new joke to tell. He loved to laugh and have a good time. Indeed, it was one of the endearing qualities that Jarred appreciated about Brent. Jarred had always felt as though this characteristic was an invaluable asset to the team as Brent would help to keep things light in times when stress could be the dominant feature. Brent had been an assistant coach working for Jarred for several years now and had always been so fun loving and easy going. However, now Jarred could sense Brent’s unease and it made him feel uncomfortable to say the least.

After the two of them made their way to the locker room and sat down in the office Brent said, I need to tell you something but I am not sure quite how to say it.

Well, just say it Brent.

Ok, well, yesterday just before the game, John walked in while I was praying with the team. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t look very happy. I would not be surprised if he pulls you in to talk about the situation on Monday.

Well, if that is the case, then I will deal with it on Monday. Don’t worry Brent. That’s not a big deal. The worst-case scenario is that he will tell us not to pray with the players any more.

Jarred tried to put Brent’s mind at ease that day but his own mind was racing. John was the athletic director at Plainsville High School, where Jarred had been the head football coach for the past five years and Jarred had run-ins with him in the past. It seemed that they didn’t always met eye to eye. Now, here was Jarred, faced with the prospect of his athletic director telling him not to pray with the players, something Jarred had done every year for his entire 20 year coaching career.

Jarred knew that it would be frowned upon by the administration if they knew that he prayed with the players. However, Jarred had always come from the perspective of a don’t ask, don’t tell policy, and no one had ever said anything to him before. Praying with the team had always been a way to unite them. Each year, before any team prayers, Jarred mentioned to the players that they did not have to take part if it caused them to feel uncomfortable. He let the players know that they could feel free to remain standing or sit silently by themselves and contemplate what they need to do to perform at their best. However, no players ever took him up on this offer.

Every year the entire team knelt together in a circle and prayed, simply asking for the strength to play together, stay together, and have fun together. Did it matter whom they were asking to receive this strength from? Everyone’s concept of God is different. Does it matter whether the players are looking within themselves to muster up this strength or looking toward a Higher Power? Moreover, is there even a difference?

On Monday John did, indeed, have a conversation with Jarred and asked him if he prayed with his players. Jarred told John that he did pray with them and he always had during his entire career. John looked beside himself and he told Jarred that he could no longer do that. When Jarred told John that it had always been voluntary and he had always given his players the opportunity to step out, John told him that does not matter. John pointed out that even if it is voluntary, some players might feel pressured to conform because they don’t want to go against the wishes of their head coach. More importantly, it was against district policy.

Although Jarred knew that it was possible and even likely, he had never asked if it was against district guidelines. That was part of his don’t ask, don’t tell policy. But Jarred had never thought about the team prayers placing pressure on his players. Did any of them feel that way? Jarred had always been very sincere when he mentioned to the players that they did not have to take part and he knew that he would never have used it against them if they chose to do just that. However, did they know that? Had Jarred been indirectly pressuring his players all this time without realizing it? Based on his experience, Jarred found no reason to believe that to be true as his relationship to his players was always the most important aspect of coaching, and he would talk to every player individually often throughout the season in an attempt to understand each fully.

After talking to John, Jarred decided that he could actually use this new restriction to his advantage. After all, he had been working to find ways to bring this team together in a way that might unite them even more than they were already. This team seemed to have something special, as it was led by a group of seniors that had been playing together most of their lives. Consequently, this team seemed to have a real shot at a state championship! So, after having the conversation with his athletic director, Jarred decided to handle it the way he always had, just be completely upfront with his team.

During the pre-game speech of the next game, Jarred informed his players that he was told he could no longer pray with them. He went on to say that although the administration can tell him he can’t pray with the players, they couldn’t tell them that they cannot pray with each other. Jarred then told the players that, from now on, at the end of each pre-game speech, the coaches would leave the locker room and allow the players to have private time, implying that they could continue on with the pre-game tradition of praying before every game. The players looked at each other sagaciously, indicating they knew exactly what their coach was getting at.

Later Jarred was informed by a few of the team leaders that they were, indeed, still praying with each other and it seemed to actually help them come together more and rely on each other for support. That was exactly what Jarred had hoped for! He believed that it was even better for them to pray together without the coaches because there was a type of bonding that can only be attained from the players themselves. In addition, if any of the players actually did feel an indirect pressure to pray because the coaches were around, this pressure would be sure to be alleviated now, and for that, Jarred was pleased.

Now, however, Jarred sat contemplating how his life had become such a mess. He began to ponder about what Isha, a bartender at Jared’s new favorite place to eat, had recently said. Isha provided many examples from scripture that describe how we must be giving to others and to think of others first.

Isha was unlike anyone Jarred had ever met. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to recall direct quotes from any literature he had read. Interestingly, he often quoted from the bible but he never used the word God, except of course during those times he was stating a direct quote. When Jarred asked him about why he never used the word God, Isha said, The term ‘God’ seems to come with connotations of a separate being, typically portrayed as a wise elderly male with a long flowing beard. However, that does not match my perception of what God is. To me, God is the totality of everything in the Universe, including us. This is why I refer to ‘God’ as the One, or the Absolute, or sometimes the Source.

At the time, Jarred didn’t really know what to think. In his life he had always referred to the Higher Power as God. However, he could see what Isha was saying. Indeed, Jarred considered himself a Christian and whenever he thought of God, images of a separate being were conjured up. Perhaps that was because of the way God is portrayed in the bible, as well as in the churches that Jarred had attended. God was always portrayed as something out there to be worshiped and prayed to. This had never really resonated with Jarred but he didn’t understand why. He simply believed that he probably needed to read the bible more, pray to God more, and go to church more in order to understand what ‘God’ is. However, he could never seem to muster up enough motivation to search for that understanding.

Now, here was this bartender named Isha referring to God as One and everything he said seemed to resonate with Jarred more than anything he had ever heard in church. Why was that? What was it about the things Isha said that felt so right to Jarred? In addition, how was it that Jarred could garner more wisdom from a bartender than a pastor? Are these not two individuals working at establishments on opposite ends of the spectrum? Certainly that is what Jarred thought.

Isha was an average looking fellow. He was just over six feet tall with shaggy blonde hair and a short, neatly trimmed beard. He had an average build but stood in such a comfortable, confident way that he appeared much bigger than he actually was. Isha was nearing fifty years old but one would never know it by looking at him. His face was smooth and wrinkle free and the only signs of aging were some white hairs in his neatly trimmed beard. But what really stood out to Jarred were Isha’s steel blue eyes. They seemed to peer directly into Jarred’s soul when he would look at him.

Jarred himself, at 6’4 and weighing 215 pounds was a physical specimen. His broad shoulders and chiseled muscles had the look of a gladiator. His neatly cropped blonde hair and large brown eyes, to go along with his angular chin and symmetrical facial features made him look more like a movie star than a high school teacher and football coach. Jarred had just turned 42 but like Isha, he looked much younger than that. Together, these physical features made Jarred the envy of many a man and the yearning of innumerable women.

Not long ago, after having this conversation with Isha, Jarred was sitting at home contemplating how he was going to handle a major life event. He was about to tell his players that he would not be coaching them in the upcoming season as planned. He had been coaching football for 20 years so this was going to be a major life shift for him, and explaining the reason to his players was going to be challenging to say the least.

While thinking about the challenge that lay ahead, Jarred got a very interesting phone call. The call came from a gentleman who said he was calling for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. His immediate response was to first question the guy on whether he had just phoned, as he had received a call moments earlier from someone who sounded like the new caller. Next, Jarred told the man that he had been receiving a lot of calls lately and he was no longer accepting soliciting phone calls. The gentleman gave Jarred a polite response and hung up.

The moment Jarred hung up the phone he was blasted by the irony. The reason he had to tell the players that he would no longer be coaching them was because of his own abuse of alcohol. Because Jarred became visibly intoxicated while at a football camp with the players, the administration lost trust in him and no longer wanted him to coach for their school. So, as Jarred sat there thinking about the best way to approach this delicate situation in a way that would be best for the players, he received the call. Not only was this call directly related to his own self-inflicted problems, but it was also an opportunity provided for him to do what he had just talked to Isha about and mentally committed to, looking beyond him self and helping others. Of course he had to wonder, is this not a message from the Universe trying to tell him something?

At that time of his life, Jarred had come to realize that alcohol had been a major problem in two areas; first, in social situations where it was a major focus of the gathering, and second, in times of over-whelming distress in his life, such as when he went through a divorce. In those times, Jarred didn’t seem to notice the stop signal that tells him he has had enough. Instead, he would end up drinking to a point of black out drunkenness. Although this had happened many times in his life, he still didn’t avoid alcohol completely. Jarred thought, Why do we partake in behaviors that we know are not good for us? This question seemed to be haunting him for some time now.

Jarred began to think about how an even more profound realization from the phone call was the fact that his difficulties with alcohol were simply a by-product of an even greater challenge that we must all face at times. He could now see that one of the greatest struggles for many of us is the inability to see past our own problems long enough to help others in need. This is one of the most common reoccurring themes he had read from countless authors attempting to elucidate how to live a life of peace and joy.

According to Isha, paradoxically, one must search within to realize that inner peace is gained only by recognizing that ones attention must be placed and maintained outside of the self. At the time, this made no sense to Jarred, possibly because he had never heard it described that way before. Isha said that if one merely comes to recognize and accept that thought is not produced by the authentic self then the clarity of this paradoxical statement becomes apparent. Jarred thought, What did he mean by that? And what did he mean when he said that it must be experienced in order for the individual to know what ‘it’ is?

Jarred remembered Isha trying to describe the difference between what is typically meant by inner and outer world. Isha said, Typically, inner world refers to thoughts, emotions, and images. For example, if we have a daydream most would say that it is not real. It is in our heads only, hence, it is part of our inner world and cannot be experienced by another. However, none of these are actually inner. Our inner world goes deeper than thoughts, emotions, and images. This is one of the main reasons it can be so difficult to understand some of the most profound writings from past literature. Most of the time when we are attempting to understand the difference between inner and outer worlds, we turn to the body as the dividing line. However, it is not just the physical body that provides the boundaries for dividing the inner and outer world.

Jarred recalled asking Isha, If the inner world is viewed as thoughts, emotions, and images, what then is the typical view of the outer world?

Isha replied, Again, if viewed from the perspective of the body as providing the dividing line, then the outer world would be that which could be touched, heard, or seen. In other words, anything that can be experienced through the senses is typically viewed as coming from outside ourselves. For example, we can touch a hot stove and feel heat; that is obvious. But we also feel touch through the nose as the molecules emanating from another object make their way into our nasal canal, stimulating our sense perception of smell. A similar statement could be made about taste. I am sure this could be explained in much more scientific terms but most of us have touched, tasted, smelled, heard, and seen things our whole lives. We know what this means because we have experienced it directly. Therefore, just to keep things simple, I will describe the typical view of the inner and outer world thusly; outer equals touch, sight, and sound, while inner equals emotion, image, and thought.

Isha continued, "Because the physical nature of our outer world is much better understood, I will simply attempt to describe how what is typically viewed as our inner world is actually our outer world in disguise. First there is emotion, which seems to be the most physical of the three. It is typically viewed as our inner world because it arises from within. However, we can feel emotions in a similar way that we experience other objects. For example, if we touch something that is soft, such as a pillow, we feel the object give to our touch and the touch receptors on our fingers send a signal to the brain telling us that the object is soft. In contrast, if we feel an emotion arise it comes from the brain sending a signal to the body telling the body that this has happened before and this is how you felt about it, based on a previous meaning making experience. The only difference is the direction of the stimulus. In the first example, the body, through the hand, sent a signal to the brain and in the second example the process was reversed.

Of course this is not entirely true either. Isha went on, "Some would say that memory is actually not stored in the brain and doesn’t really have a given location of determination. Whether or not this is true is not relevant to the point I am making. In both cases, it is the mind-body sensations that we are experiencing. Whether it is mind-body or body-mind matters not. The feeling sensations are still physical. The example of the hand feeling the pillow is obvious. However, if we explore what is happening in the emotional arousal example we can see that it too is obvious.

When a person is in a situation that elicits an emotional arousal there are very real physiological changes that take place. For example, the heart rate typically increases, blood vessels constrict, changing the flow of blood in the body, and breathing may become shallow. The point is that in both examples there are very real physical sensations taking place in the body, and both are equally as real to the person who is experiencing them. Based on this argument, it is safe to say that emotions are as much a part of the physical world as are objects that can be touched.

Jarred thought about what Isha had said, but didn’t see how this example could possible apply to images in our mind. After all, there was nothing at all physical about this. As if Isha was reading Jarred’s mind he continued, With regards to image and how it is a part of the physical world, I would simply like to compare it to an image on a television or movie screen. Just as there are physical waves that are picked up by the transmitters on the television set, so too are there physical impulses that are directed through the brain to form a picture on a symbolic screen in the mind. Without these impulses there would be no image. Therefore, an image in the mind is every bit as real as an image on a TV screen. The only difference is that we can look at a TV screen with several other people and come to an agreement as to what is being observed, whereas, if someone were to describe to us what an image in their mind looks like, we would simply have to take their word for it.

So if that is true, asked Jarred, then where does thought fit into all this?

Isha continued on without missing a beat as he said, "The last part of the typical view of the inner world is thought. Again, thought is typically viewed as inner because it is known only to us. However, if we were to hook a person’s brain up to a lie detector and ask him questions, we could watch his thoughts being transmitted through the electrical device and printed on paper. This is because of the different impulses that get transmitted throughout the brain while the person is thinking. Is this really so different than imputing information into a computer and then asking it to make calculations and supply us with the answer? After all, we ourselves are responsible for what information has been accumulated and stored in our minds from our previous experience, albeit not always by conscious choice. Then, when new experiences arise, we attempt to ask the mind questions as to how to handle the current situation. The mind then searches our memory bank for information that might help to provide an answer. Of course, if we were not consciously aware of the information when it was being stored, then what comes back in a new similar situation