GOT AIR

Max Polatin - The Christian Science Journal, Aug. 2006

“No fear.” I once heard a skateboarder say that about me to another skater. I wanted to say to him, “Hey-I am afraid sometimes, but trusting God helps me overcome the fear.”

What I know about God is really essential in my skateboarding. I often do tricks that involve big jumps. This can be kinda scary. So while I set up for a trick I think, I know I can’t fall out of the arms of God. The Bible talks about God’s “outstretched arm” and “outstretched hand,” and I think of being in His hands at the spot where I’ll land. Then I just go for it. I really believe God is taking care of me. Sometimes everyone in the skate park stops to watch. I’ve been skateboarding since I was five, and I’ve become pretty good at it.

Praying while I skate is just natural for me. One of my favorite Bible passages, which I think about a lot when I’m skating, is this: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isa. 41:10).

Although I do fall sometimes, when I do, I’m quick to pray about it. One summer at a skateboard camp, I was skating on a half-pipe called Cloud 9 that was 14 1/2 feet high. I’d already dropped in on it (put my board over the edge of the ramp to get into the pipe) a few times before. But one time during a lesson, I was trying to get some air, and I had my worst fall. I went unconscious for a short time, and I was taken to the camp infirmary. The nurses there said that I had a concussion and that they’d have to call my parents. My mom was actually working at the camp, so she came right over.

I was really praying and thinking about these statements from Science and Health, a book that has a lot of great ideas for skateboarders: “When an accident happens, you think or exclaim, “I am hurt!’ . . .

“Now reverse the process. Declare that you are not hurt and understand the reason why . . .” (p. 397). I’ve learned in the Christian Science Sunday School why I can say I’m not hurt. It’s because God made me in His image (see Gen. 1:27). Since God is Spirit, I have to be spiritual. I just can’t imagine something spiritual getting hurt. I think about this idea all the time, and whenever I fall, it helps me get back up and continue to skate.

The nurses didn’t want me skating for the rest of the day, but I told them I felt fine and asked if I could get my board back. So they gave me a test where I had to do things like jumping jacks and walk in a straight line. I passed the test. In two hours I was back on my skateboard.

In skateboarding it’s so important to be continually learning new tricks. Of course, practice is necessary, and I practice all the tricks I know almost every day. But in order to get better, you have to try new things all the time. This can be frustrating. Sometimes I’ll try and try a new trick, but I just can’t do it. This is when I have to stop and really turn to God. I think about what Jesus said: “I can of mine own self do nothing” (John 5:30). Jesus always looked to God as the source of his ability, and I want to, also. I’ll think to myself, “God made me to express Him. As His expression I include qualities like strength, precision, accuracy, and intelligence. So I already have everything I need to perform this trick.”

One time I was trying to do a trick called a backside boardslide on a rail. This is when your backside is facing the rail and you ollie (jump up) on the rail, and you’re moving forward. The first time I did it, I had to bail. But I figured out where I had to be in order to ollie high enough to get on the rail. I kept doing this over and over, but I had to bail each time. I began to get mad and think, I’m not good. This is too hard, I can’t do it. But then I thought, Is anything too hard for God? He’s the source of my ability, and He can do all things. So the next time I paused for a moment and reminded myself that God gave me what I needed. And I did the trick.

No fear.

According to Max, “Did you get air?” means “Did you get up high enough on the board?” It’s a question 13-year-old Max and his friends ask one another frequently when they’re out skateboarding. Not only is Max an accomplished skateboarder and competitor, he also hosts and edits his own TV show called Sidewalk Surfing on local cable TV in his hometown of Natick, Massachusetts.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 4th, 2006 at 8:38 am and is filed under Safety, Creativity, Healing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.