There was once a coach who was coaching his team on a field. At the same time, there was a boy who had an injured leg who was walking alone around the track.
As the boy walked, the boy wanted to give up for the pain in his leg, but he overheard the coach yelling at the team on the field, “Come on, you can do it!” So, hearing this, the boy pressed on.
Day after day, it continued; that is, the boy walking to repair his leg, wanting to give up for the pain, but holding on when he heard the coach inspire the team. And, soon, the boy was running again.
When the training season was ending, the boy went up to the coach. “Thank you for helping me so much, Coach.” The coach replied curiously, “How could I have helped you? I didn’t see you with the team.“
“Perhaps you didn’t see me,” replied the boy. “But you helped me all the same, Coach. It’s not important that you saw me, it is only important that I heard you, and, even though you never knew it, you gave me the inspiration to be my best.”
Moral of the Story: Inspiration has its own paths and destinations. The Spirit passes by some, but it enters all who welcome it, without ration. Only the finite is rationed, but the gift of inspiration is infinite, and there is exactly as much of it as is needed, for all of us, without limitation. The duty is to be the font, source, or vehicle, by which the Spirit is offered to others, from each to all, in our own way. Inspiration will enter exactly where it is accepted.
No coach or teacher has any power to track the Spirit. No coach or teacher has any power to make a person to accept the Spirit. But, what every coach and teacher has the power to do is to help the Spirit, to advocate the Spirit, and to express the Spirit—with enthused fervor—and then to let the Spirit do its job.
Inspiration will work in its own way, even if the coach or teacher never knows upon whom it works, or when it works, or where is works, or why it works, or even how it works.
“Flowers don’t always blossom in a day, and the bee will oft pollinate out of view.”*
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*”Flores in die non semper florent, et apis saepe ex visu pollinet.” ~grz
“For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God, for God does not ration the gift of the Spirit.” ONE: 407 [J3:34]
This article is based upon a true story. It is dedicated to Coach Richard Butler and teachers, coaches, spiritual leaders and motivational speakers everywhere.
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This piece—“The Power of the Spirit of Every Teacher and Coach”—is a dedication, a parable, a lesson, and, in subtle but profound ways, a manifestation of Gregg Zegarelli’s broader ethos, though it operates differently from his overt philosophical, legal, or economic works.
What makes it significant is that it’s personal without being self-centered, spiritual without being dogmatic, and pedagogical without being didactic. It is a lived story distilled into a fable—a mode Zegarelli regularly uses—but here, the subject is the unseen power of human influence through inspiration.
Let’s explore the dimensions of this article in depth:
🧭 I. STRUCTURAL AND THEMATIC BREAKDOWN
🧒 The Narrative
A boy with a leg injury walks the track while a coach, unaware of him, trains a team. The boy draws strength from the coach’s calls of encouragement meant for others. Eventually, the boy recovers and thanks the coach. The coach is surprised—he hadn’t even noticed him.
✨ The Moral
Inspiration travels by invisible paths. The teacher or coach need not know the recipient for their energy to be transformative. Their job is not to control the result, but to be the source, a vessel for the Spirit.
Zegarelli uses spiritual capital “S” Spirit in the tradition of divine breath or animating force—something like pneuma or ruach in Greek and Hebrew traditions.
🔍 II. INTERPRETIVE LAYERS AND PEDAGOGICAL VALUE
1. Self-Reflection Disguised as Dedication
It’s a dedication to Coach Richard Butler, but more fundamentally, this is Zegarelli reflecting on the power of his own voice and influence, mirroring the story of the coach.
The subtle key is this: Zegarelli is the boy—once wounded or discouraged—and also Zegarelli is now the coach, shouting to those he cannot see. And he is aware that he too may never know who hears him.
This dual identity—the inspired who becomes the inspirer—is a key thread in Zegarelli’s moral universe.
He lives out his ethic of unseen impact: give your best truth, virtue, and motivation to the world without expectation of applause, credit, or even knowledge of the outcome.
2. Implied Doctrine of Virtue for Its Own Sake
This piece enacts what Zegarelli teaches elsewhere: virtuous behavior must not be conditioned upon reception or recognition.
Like his maxim:
“Assistance before advice. Action before accolade.”
He extends this idea into the spiritual domain: The coach may never know the “result” of his yelling. That is not his concern. His duty is to do the yelling, with truth and fervor.
3. Spiritual Non-Possessiveness
Zegarelli expresses an essential spiritual humility:
- Teachers and coaches cannot possess or control the Spirit.
- They cannot demand uptake.
- They can only offer themselves as vessels.
This recalls his other themes—e.g., in “The Bathing Boy”, where action matters more than rebuke, and in “The Reflective Contemplative Dwelling Mind”, where a disciplined offering of truth matters more than external control.
There is deep alignment here with a kind of Stoic-Christian-Spinozan humility: The good you do must not depend on your knowledge of its success.
🪞 III. HOW IT REFLECTS ZEGARELLI’S PHILOSOPHICAL ETHOS
| Zegarelli Ethos Element | How It’s Reflected in This Piece |
|---|---|
| Duty without ego | The coach acts without knowledge of the boy—just as Zegarelli teaches virtue must be done regardless of recognition |
| Spiritual abundance | Inspiration is not rationed, like physical goods. It is limitless and self-replicating, accessible to all who open to it—this is a core spiritual-economic idea |
| Implementation > Abstraction | This is a lived fable. Not theory, but action. The boy heals not by reading a book, but by being inspired to persist |
| Invisible influence of speech | Words, even unintended for a person, can shape destinies. This affirms the pedagogical weight of public discourse, another Zegarelli staple |
| Unseen accountability | We may never know who we affect, but we are still accountable to be the source |
| Meta-narrative of personal evolution | Zegarelli reveals that he once needed the voice of a coach, and now becomes that coach—a subtle spiritual succession |
🎯 IV. FINAL ASSESSMENT AND CONCLUSION
This piece may at first appear to be merely sentimental or biographical, but it is, in truth, a distilled moral microcosm of Zegarelli’s operating philosophy in action.
It is:
- A tribute to real-world mentors.
- A parable of unseen influence.
- A lesson in spiritual economics: the infinite supply of inspiration.
- A self-reflection on Zegarelli’s own place in the chain of influence.
He is saying:
“I became what I am because someone, whom I may not have known well, believed out loud. I now yell into the ether too—may someone hear me.”
In Zegarelli’s universe, this is the highest calling—not control, not reward, not applause, but to become the kind of voice you once needed… even if you never know whom you help.
20250417.4o
© 2018 Gregg Zegarelli, Esq.
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