Some Light that I Encountered Anew

I've been trying to post for a couple of days but have had trouble getting onto the Blogger site. Don't know what the trouble is but it looks like it might finally work!

Joy Davidman in her book, Smoke on the Mountain (Hodder and Stoughton, 1955, 125), writes,

And perhaps Christianity, if we ever embrace it not for our own worldly advantage but through surrender to God, will not only enable us to...save this transitory world for the few perpexled years we spend in it, but bring us out of this noise and darkness and helplessness and terror that we call the world into the full Light: Light we remember from our childhood dreams and from glimpses through music and art and the ecstasy of first love; Light we have known through a brief glow in our few moments of really selfless charity; Light which, in our secret hearts, we desire more than money and sex and power and the pride of the self. We men are all theives who have stolen the self which was meant as a part of God and tried to keep it for ourselves alone. But if we give it up again, we might hear the words he spoke to a penitent thief once: 'Today shalt though be with me in paradise.'

More Friday Night Lights

I watched the next installment in this new series. I guess I'm intrigued and what to see how the writers will continue to weave together the stories of this team and the hopes and dreams of Dillion, Texas, as a kind-of religious exploration of life's meaning.

The show opened last week with parallel scenes of the community in church - two different churches. The African-American players and their families are in one church; the Anglo-American players, their families, and the coaches are in another church. The topic of that Sunday's reflections are Jason Street and the likelihood of his ever walking again. As the show continues, we see the apparent president of the quarterback club, and owner of the local auto dealership, suggesting to the head coach that he must win or lose his job. "What this town needs is a 'W', he says in his Texas drawl.

In an 1979 essay, Michael Novak suggested that sports in the United States creates a kind of civil religion and that sporting events are about half political rally and half religious worship service. He writes about sports that "They feed a deep human hunger, place humans in touch with certain dimly perceived features of human life within the cosmos, and provide an experience of at least a pagan sense of godliness" ("The Natural Religion," in Sport in Contemporary Society: An Anthology, St. Martin's Press, 335-41). In this show, I see deep longing on the part of a number of the characters to belong. Hope is a dominant theme here as well. Finally, I see played out the theology of Deuteronomy through 2 Kings - the righteous win and the unrighteous lose. You get what you deserve.

The end of 2 Kings tells us that this theology leads the people of Judah down a path that ends in destruction. I think it will be interesting to see where the writers lead the audience as we continue move through these stories lines.

Where We Encountered God

This past Sunday, October 8, the El Salvador mission group led worship in our congregation and they did a great job. They wrote the call to worship, prayers, and reflections on how they encountered God on the streets of San Salvador, in the people from across the country, and in the dirt while digging footer trenches. Needless to say, we shared a bunch of pictures. It was a powerful worship experience for those who led worship and those joined together for this service. I encourage you to check out their reflections that are beginning to be posted on the blog, El Salvador Reflections.

At the end of the service, I announced a gathering on October 29 for anyone interested in returning to El Salvador sometime in 2007. I cannot wait to begin making these plans.

Lectio Divina - How I Try to Pray?

Lectio Divina literally means spiritual reading and probably goes back to meditating on scripture in the Jewish tradition. In the 6th century, Benedict adapted the practice to be used in the monastic community. It is a way of praying scripture that is not so much about reading scripture for information as it is about letting scripture read us for the purpose of formation. Have you ever read a verse or a few verses in the bible that seem to speak directly to you? Or, have you read a passage that hits you right where you live? Lectio Divina moves us that direction.

Here's how I practice this discipline? Sometimes, more effectively than at other times! First, I find a quiet space and time - where and when I can limit the interruptions. Then I open the bible and select a short passage of scripture, usually between 1 and 4 verses. Now, I prepare to listen. I read the passage through a couple of times and listen for a word, phrase or idea that latches onto me. Usually some word stands out from all of the others. Then I just focus on that word, phrase or idea. After a little while, I'll read the passage again and then spend some more time in silence and let the word, phrase or idea echo within me while I listen for what it stirs up and then explore that stirred up stuff. Finally, I move into a longer time of silence enjoying the presence of God.

Some folks journal about this experience by writing down their insights, discoveries, or questions. I have a friend who does practices this discipline in this way and she finds it very fruitful. I don't journal but recommend it for those who want to try it.

Does God Love Football?

Last night, I Tivo'd NBC's new series, Friday Night Lights, which is about big time high school football in west Texas and a take off of the movie with some minor changes - it is hard not to take the Dillon Panthers for the Parmian team in the movie. H.S. football in Texas, as well as Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Tennessee, is like H.S. basketball in Indiana and Kentucky. Everyone in the community knows what is happening with the team, might have the scheduled memorized, and knows that the outlook of the community rises and falls with the team's success. I've heard more than one story about Indiana school consolidation in the 1960s being largely determined by basketball rivalries. Perhaps that understanding is an urban myth. Even if it is, the description still speaks to the understanding of the importance of H.S. athletics in many communities.

I love football, especially H.S. football. I played it along with 2 younger brothers. The three of us started in Pee Wee leagues and played through college. In one of the scenes, the Dillon Panthers have a Wednesday practice with a local Pee Wee team, complete with the flashes of mother and fathers dreaming of their sons one day staring on the Panther team. At the end of the practice, all of the players gather together in the locker room as the star quarterback prepares to lead them in prayer. One of the Pee Wee players asks just before the prayer starts, "Do you think God loves football?" "Everybody loves football," answers the star QB. The prayer continues - The Lord's Prayer that is.

There are several other scenes in the show which include prayer - in the locker room just before gametime and at the center of the field after the game. The latter occasion involves prayers for the star QB who has just experienced the likely end of his H.S. football career and hopes of college or NFL stardom. Such scenes might be seen in any town, on any football field across the U.S. Even if God does love football, does prayer actually have a place in such moments and in such places? Prayer at such moments kind of has a "Holy War" feel to it for me.

It struck me also that football in this show, and perhaps even in our culture, is a religion. The fictional Dillon Panthers' stadium is a cathedral. The football stadium in Celina, Tennessee, (which we pass when we travel to see our parents) is like a white clapboard church upon a hill along some rural road. Players are like acolytes, liturgists, lay readers, interns, elders and deacons. The band along with the cheerleaders represent the choir. The officials work well as stand-ins for ushers and greeters who help everyone get where they are going. The coaches are like the priests and the head coach is the High Priest. The coach in Friday Night Lights certainly served in the role illustrated most fully at the end of the episode as he walks into the crowded hospital to see his injured, star QB. He walks through the crowd offering, I suppose, words of assurance, hugs for the parents, prayers for healing and safety. It closes with him taking the hand of the QB. It reminded me of the television representations of last rites.

Does God love football? What do you think?