We've all seen the long black hair flying out of his helmet as he crosses the field in a flash and gets his man. There may not be a better Safety in the NFL. I was astonished to learn he's a man of deep faith and religious convictions.
Polamalu is Greek Orthodox and likes monastic life. He attends several Greek Orthodox churches, Greek Orthodox monastery in Saxonburg [Nativity of the Theotokos], a monastery in Arizona, and reportedly several churches in Pittsburgh.
On spiritual struggle: "It’s the struggle of good and evil, and with that comes the struggle with greed, jealousy, materialism, sexual morality, pride, all these types of struggles that we face every day, in every second of the day."
Religious and monastic life: "For me, faith is to be simple in this way. If anybody believes in God and believes in the Holy Bible, how can you be in any grey area? I’m talking about myself here, how can “I” think one way and do another way? To me, Christianity is very black and white. Either you take it serious or you don’t take it serious at all. The monks’ example to me is that they take salvation seriously in every facet of their lives. This is a model for me as a Christian and for my family on how to live our lives."
He's inspired by Greek Orthodox monks: "They wear beards to cover their face so they're not vain; they don't have mirrors because they don't want to look at themselves from being vain; they wear black because black is humility; they seldom talk because they don't want to be proud or arrogant; they keep their eyes down because they don't want their eyes to wander; they pray constantly."
I've always been blown away by his athletic ability, but now I'm blown away by his religion, faith, wisdom and insight. Full interview here.
1 comment:
What a great testimony for us as believers and, above all, for so many young people today!!!
Thanks for sharing!
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