‘Getting the recipe right’ was the key message of former West Australian cricket player Justin Langer who addressed a congregation of around 450 people last weekend from across Christian Churches in Perth for the second annual joint celebration of sport.
Some six heads of Churches came together to lead the event, which was held at St Mary’s Cathedral. These included Perth Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Don Sproxton, Perth Anglican Archbishop Roger Herft, the Uniting Church’s Moderator Reverend Steve Francis, Pastor Tania Watson from the Churches of Christ, Baptist Union Director Reverend Mark Wilson and Executive Pastor Karen Wilson from Riverview Church.
In his main address, Mr Langer, a former international cricket player who is now coach of the WA Western Warriors cricket team, spoke about his grandmother who, he said, used to make “the best chocolate cake in the world”.
“She learnt the exact amount of eggs, the exact amount of sugar, and the exact amount of chocolate.”
But, said Mr Langer, for her to make the best chocolate cake in the world, it took time to get the recipe right.
“To be successful in life, and to be successful in sport, to be successful in anything, you have to get the recipe right. We all need a recipe.”
Mr Langer went on to recall a speech that he recently gave to young sportspeople in Brisbane, where he spoke about getting the right ‘ingredients’.
“One is work ethic – no one is successful without working hard and practising hard.
“The second one is honesty – honesty with other people, being willing to take honest feedback and also being meticulously honest with yourself.
“The third one is respecting the past and learning from your mistakes and learning from your successes.
“And, finally, you have to celebrate life. You have to celebrate your successes. If you are going to strive for excellence, you must also do it with a smile on your face and you must celebrate this magnificent life.”
Mr Langer went on to speak about his faith, which he says is part of his own recipe.
“Without my faith, I wouldn’t be standing here now,” he said.
“God has been with me in the highest of highs and he’s been with me in the lowest of times.
“People see us sportspeople as gladiators, as heroes – but we are human, and we also have some really tough times too.”
Mr Langer drew references to a number of times during his cricket playing career where he had turned to God, including one of the first instances in 1997, shortly after the birth of his second daughter, which followed a chat with the club chaplain.
“He [the chaplain] asked if I have read the Bible lately – he knew that I’d been brought up as a Catholic,” Mr Langer said.
“I said I must admit I haven’t, and the next morning we were flying out interstate, and he turned up to the airport and handed me a leather-bound Bible.
“And at the time, to be honest, it was a little bit embarrassing, because I walked onto the plane and I’m holding a Bible and all my mates probably had sports magazines.
“I hid it underneath the newspaper [I was carrying] and I sat there and I turned to read a few scriptures he had left open for me and one of them was Philippians 4, verse 13.”
Mr Langer went on to speak about how that verse of scripture inspired him for the rest of his career, particularly during a test match in Hobart against Pakistan, during which he says he played his finest innings in test cricket.
“With every ball that I was facing, with these magnificent Pakistani bowlers, I was saying, ‘God gives me the strength to achieve anything’, ‘God gives me the strength to achieve anything’.
“That’s all I said for six hours. And to this moment, I still laugh when the so-called experts kept saying, ‘look at him, he’s concentrating so well, he’s so tough’.
“If only they knew I had God with me the whole time.”
Wildcats basketball player Shawn Redhage also spoke at the event in an interview with radio presenter and West Coast Eagles Football Club chaplain, Paul Morrison.
Mr Redhage, who originally hails from Florida in the United State, told the crowd about his journey of becoming an Australian sports star and the influence of his faith following a period of injury.
Attendees at the event were also shown a video of Perth’s homegrown How Ridiculous Guys who have had millions of clicks on their YouTube videos which demonstrate various sporting activities and tricks. They shared with the congregation their relationship with Christ and subsequently their passion for advocating against children in poverty with charity Compassion Australia.
Archdiocese of Perth Communications and Media Manager James Parker also conducted an interview with Whitford Catholic Primary School student Nate Anderson, 5, whose mother told the crowd about the family’s aim to raise $15,000 towards a prosthetic running leg.