(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.
It’s that time of year when a young man’s fancy turns to … football? Yes, at least here in America with four teams left standing and two more weekends of playoff games culminating in the Super Bowl, there is a lot of interest in football, even if you maybe haven’t been following it until now. And, of course, if you happen to live in or near Cincinnati, San Francisco, Los Angeles, or Kansas City, you might be particularly interested in what goes down this weekend. And even if not, the teams that are still standing are good enough to get this far, so the games are usually thrilling ones even if you are not partial to any team. Here in southern California, we’ll probably be rooting for the Rams, although we’re not going to be heartbroken if the 49ers win because we like them too.
Believe it or not, Marti is into this. It’s no secret that Marti does not share my love for baseball, but she does like football. The slow pace of baseball drives her up a wall, but she likes the speed of football and the explosive nature of the play. She’ll even watch the ads. That’s because we watch so little TV that we are entertainment starved. She can cry over a 60 second McDonalds commercial.
We got hooked on the 49ers in the early 1980s when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area and the Joe Montana era began. We loved watching Joe Cool. His infectious smile told you he loved playing this game and the more impossible the situation, the happier he got. So Marti and I might be rooting against each other on Sunday. I wouldn’t be surprised if she started pulling for the 49ers; I, on the other hand, have a thing about being loyal to the home team no matter what.
So some of you who are not into football might be wondering why I’m writing about this in the Catch? Isn’t this supposed to be a spiritual reflection on life? What could possibly be spiritual about football? Well, it’s like anything else in life; it’s how you see it.
I think there is a spiritual way of thinking about anything. Harry Blamires calls it “thinking Christianly.” Let me try:
- Football provides us with something to talk about. With religion a sort of no man’s land and politics a war zone, sports are somewhat safe. And you need things to talk to people about in the marketplace.
- All sports are full of practical illustrations about life — even faith. I love it when players from opposing teams hug each other or give each other a hand up. The two quarterbacks in Saturday’s Divisional playoff between San Francisco and Green Bay had a friendly chat in the middle of the game and ended with a fist bump. Paul talked in the New Testament about running the race and receiving the prize at a time when the Greek games were no doubt popular.
- Sports are a legitimate break from the tensions of life. True, sports have their own tension, but it’s someone else’s for a change! Let them worry; we’ll watch (except for those times we can’t bear to!)
- And then there’s the people to enjoy watching with. (I know of some churches who throw Super Bowl parties so members can invite their neighbors who wouldn’t normally come to church.) Same thing can happen in your home. It’s a way to build relationships with your neighbors.
- Games are just plain fun, and in case you didn’t know it, fun is spiritual.
So there will be two more weekends of football left — the last three big games. If you choose to — enjoy. And don’t think it’s just some secular activity that has nothing to do with your faith. Proving that false is pretty much up to you.
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