Stuttering and athletics - 2

Continuing from yesterday’s post, stuttering has its light side too. While coaching basketball at Cascade College, I got stuck on a word during a time out. Timeouts are only one minute long. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t get the word out. Suddenly, Lynn Dunton, one of the players, interrupted me and said, “Sing it coach.” Stutterers don’t stutter when they sing. We all laughed. The tension was broken and the word escaped my mouth.

How to pray about the stuttering was a challenge. My charismatic friends would say, “You just don’t have enough faith. Believe God and he will heal you.” I’d get on my knees trying to conjure up enough faith – pray hard – nothing. Nada. Nyet. My non-charismatic friends would say, “I hope you don’t stop stuttering. The courage you have in speaking is an inspiration for us.” "God, how do I pray?"
I went to the College chapel one Saturday and told God I wasn’t leaving there until I had a word from Him. I read Scripture, prayed and cried. And finally, after a few hours it seemed like God said, “Ray, I’m not going to heal you of stuttering. I’m going to heal what is causing the stuttering.” Fluency took a leap up then and has improved slowly these past 45 years. Of late, my stuttering has been worse though, returning to the blockage pattern of childhood. More about that in the next post.

Athletic competition was a dominant theme in my life. That was one arena where I could perform and not have to speak. And perform I did. As a North Dakota elementary and high school boy, with three feet of snow on the ground, I’d shovel off the driveway and shoot hoops. I’d play one on one with guys much better and bigger than me, knowing I’d get whipped but I’d get better, quicker.

The pursuit of athletic excellence paid great dividends. All state first team in basketball. Leading scorer in the state. Third in the state in high jump and high hurdles. Kicker on the football team. On to college at Dickinson State where I became a starter as a freshman and did very well. Was named MVP at a basketball camp sponsored by some of the Boston Celtics. Transferred to NNC – was one of the leading scorers in the Northwest. Had an invitation to tryout with the then Los Angeles Stars professional basketball team. I am so grateful to God for the ability He gave me and the motivation to develop athletic skills.

In fact, could this be one of the blessings of stuttering. A propensity to athletic prowess was God-given, but I think the stuttering laid a motivational groundwork for “proving myself” much like the ghetto kids today who excel in athletics. Besides, what else was there to do in Mott, North Dakota (population 1500) and then Dickinson (population 9000)? No video games to consume my time. In fact, no TV until I was in high school. Athletics was my escape from the pain of stuttering – a respite in a conflictual world. A source of recognition to a young boy/man who thought very poorly of himself. Thank God for athletics. The loss of communication skill provided the impetuous for athletic performance. Gain through loss.
Ray Burwick