What's In Your Bag?

What's In Your Bag?
Tuesday, January 17, 2017 by Dan Allen

I want to know what is in the duffle bags of the badminton players? They’re huge!

On other trips I’ve waxed elegant, if that is possible with the written word, about sports on Indian TV. I’ve noted that the cable service at the hotels offer a wide variety including—cricket, ping pong, futball, cricket, badminton, professional wrestling (like that’s a sport), futball, cricket, men’s and women’s field hockey, squash, cricket, volleyball, kabaddi, cricket, and tennis. It’s the last that makes me feel like I’m at home. Although what is presently airing is the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, tennis just seems like an American sport. But Indians go all out for all their sports including badminton.

Did you know there’s a professional badminton league featuring teams such at the Delhi Acers, Hyderabad Hunters, Chennai Smashers and others? On the Premier Badminton League website one learns that this league is owned by the Badminton Association of India and has the highest prize money badminton tournament in the world. Tickets to watch in person range between 500 and 2000 Rupees online ($7 to $27). And some players make gobs of money. In fact, the top ten richest badminton players in the world range from a low of 2-million to Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia who is worth $35-million (only one from India is on that list worth a measly $24-million). This is nothing to sneeze at.

The players take this very serious as they smash the shuttlecock which makes it go about 0.003 times faster than a regular hit. There is some strategy involved—try to hit it where the other person is not. And it’s a fast game. Reactions need to be made in milliseconds. Oh, this sport is also in the summer Olympics with 5 categories: singles & doubles of men and women, plus a mixed doubles.

With the racket being smaller, lighter and thinner than ones for tennis, you would think, at least I did, that the badmintoner’s bags would be smaller. They are not. They are just as large if not larger than tennis player’s bags. What in the world do they put in there—clothes for the week; burgers for between matches; books to reading during down-time; their pet pig?

My observation, however, may be tainted because I’m smarting over having to pay extra for luggage which is overweight (not the only thing in my life with that problem—glad they do not charge people per kilo as does Samoa Air). Domestic rates for baggage is different than international or rates in the US. And I’m always carrying books and supplies for people, ministries and the orphanage. But these badminton bags were just too large.

Through life we carry huge bags, some, of which ought to be left on the baggage carousel of lost memories. Instead, we cart around negative and hurtful stuff from our past that just lingers, infests every aspect of our lives as we give it free rent in our mind making it impossible to succeed and gain victory.

How do we unload these bags? Biblical meditation works as one’s mind is renewed and refreshed from God’s Word (Romans 12:2). The help of a pastor and/or Christian counselor can unzip the bag pulling out the bad memories so that good ones, which are much lighter can be stored away.

BTW, if you know of a professional badminton player, do me a favor and ask what is in those bags.