True Confessions
I love football. And I especially love football this week as my hometown Seattle Seahawks have brought home the Super Bowl trophy. (I also love baseball but that’s another season.) I have come to appreciate the elegance of the game itself, so many moving parts coming together to accomplish a goal, so many stories of kids who have made it through some hard knocks into manhood and learned the value of hard work, focus and what teamwork really means. I love the 12th Man and Woman which is what we call the fans here in Seattle, people from all over the region who are committed to this team and who undoubtedly contribute to its success on the field. I love Coach Carroll whose philosophy of positive reinforcement and working with players who are still works in progress has paid off big time. Other people in leadership might take note.
I love football. And I especially love football this week as my hometown Seattle Seahawks have brought home the Super Bowl trophy. (I also love baseball but that’s another season.) I have come to appreciate the elegance of the game itself, so many moving parts coming together to accomplish a goal, so many stories of kids who have made it through some hard knocks into manhood and learned the value of hard work, focus and what teamwork really means. I love the 12th Man and Woman which is what we call the fans here in Seattle, people from all over the region who are committed to this team and who undoubtedly contribute to its success on the field. I love Coach Carroll whose philosophy of positive reinforcement and working with players who are still works in progress has paid off big time. Other people in leadership might take note.
And I hate football. I hate the money, the bling, the overwhelming evidence of brain injury, and the emphasis on violence, the men behaving badly on the field and off, the microcosm of our culture of racism, sexism and homophobia that damages so many people.
So life is complicated.
What I have learned as a sports fan is that in the midst of the contradictions that professional sports represents, this is a reality that brings people together in spite of our politics, religion, race, gender or orientation. The polarization that defines American culture at this moment in history melts away as fans focus on athletic excellence and achievement.
I just watched 700,000 people celebrate in the streets of Seattle as the Seahawks parade made its way through downtown. For a moment today, in the bright sunshine, we shared the joy of accomplishment as a community in spite of our differences and struggles. That can’t be bad.
So I am prepared to continue to live in contradiction, rejoice in the moments we can celebrate together, and then get back to changing the world one day at a time.
Onward to the Winter Olympics games and the next opportunity to be challenged by the contradictions inherent in sports.
Rev. Dr. Marie M. Fortune
www.faithtrustinstitute.org
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Maybe it's too great an exposure to Chinese martial arts as taught by an acupuncturist - a "sport" or a discipline that encourages work both on the body and also the emotions, mind, and spirit - combining body with meditation both Taoist and Buddhist -
I wish Christianity were also yoked with physical disciplines!
Yours truly, Me Again...