Journalists love a great “get” – the interview everyone wants. Any religion writer’s great get today would be Jamie Anderson’s “spirit grandma.”
Olympic Gold Medalist Jamie Brown says she gains clarity and energy relying on quartz, moonstone, beads and her “spirit grandma.” Color gems isolated on a white background.
That’s what the high flipping slopestyle snowboard gold medalist, calls the 80-something neighbor in Tahoe who helps her chill or center or whatever very cool state of clear minded energy is required for Anderson’s wild rides. So who is she and from where does she draw that power?
Raise your hand if the “Spirit Grandma” concept is old hat to you, if you already have the Illini Spirit Grandma game day T-shirt or the sold-on-Amazon “Spirit Grandma” wall decal.
Maybe this all-purpose YouTube video mashup of New Age, God, Jesus, and Holy Mary is just your syncretistic cup of tea.
Speaking of T – what’s become of Tebowing, when Tim would kneel in prayer before, during, after games, centering himself on a traditional Christian belief. Does anyone still wear one the Tebowing bent-knee silhouette on it?
Listen, old sport, this is the new Olympics!
Yes, every major denomination, as always, has wrapped its brand around an athlete:
- Jason Brown, limber-limbed figure skate with a wow-the-crowd Riverdance routine and a team bronze medal, lives and skates by Jewish values says the “Jewish Daily Forward.”
- “Christianity Today” wants you to know eight Christian Olympians performing in Sochi for “God and Country.”
- Muslim Olympians may avail themselves of the multi-faith centers set up by the Olympics Committee “with five separate prayer rooms in each for followers of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.”
Now, the snowboarders, careening out of the X-games (where I have no idea whether there are prayer rooms) have arrived. Some may head for the Christian prayer rooms but others, like Anderson, appear to need no designated space, priest, pastor or rabbi.
Anderson, who prepped for her medal run with meditation,yoga and burning sage, and touts her “mantra beads” with sacred energy, her quartz crystal and moonstone and, of course, on the sidelines at Sochi to watch, her “Spirit Grandma.”
Grandma, call me.
