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<\/a><\/p>\nWay back a million years ago I was interviewing for what would become my first settlement as a UU parish minister. It had been a long day of interviewing and related, we\u2019d had dinner and this was kind of the sweep up, mostly visiting but with some important questions.<\/p>\n
One member looked at me and asked, \u201cJames, what do you think of football?\u201d<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t exactly sure where this one was going. It was Wisconsin. And I knew this was in some sense football country. But I was in a weakened state and so I said what I really think. \u201cI believe federal funding should be withheld from any school that has a football team,\u201d said I.<\/p>\n
They laughed.<\/p>\n
They laughed and laughed.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure what this meant. I mean I\u2019d said this before in other situations and the most it got was a wry smile. And usually it was a disdainful smirk at my pointy headed anti-American prejudice.<\/p>\n
Turns out the person who would end up being my predecessor was a footballer in college. And the game and various aspects of it were his favorite metaphor. Seems they were ready to give it a rest for a few years and knew I would provide that respite\u2026<\/p>\n
So, sports.<\/p>\n
I have my competitive edge, no doubt. But at least as much for the fact we moved nearly every year and I never had any instruction in any sport and was a runt, too boot, as for any other reason, I never channelled any of that competitiveness into athletics of any sort.<\/p>\n
In my late middle age I\u2019ve come to be a mild fan of baseball. I claim a team, although I only can name three players and recognize two out of context. I very much enjoy the triple A version of the game & like to take in a couple of games every year\u2026<\/p>\n
I still consider American football disgusting, organized thuggery without a shred of social redemption about it. To those who claim it\u2019s cathartic I say bull pucky! It\u2019s about organized brutality & the stories of what players get up to outside the game only makes sense to anyone who thinks about what they\u2019re encouraged to do for their livings\u2026<\/p>\n
And I do understand it is basic human nature to divide up into teams.<\/p>\n
That part I get.<\/p>\n
But, also, I think we need to be more than cautious about it.<\/p>\n
Great things flow out of our being together and caring for one another. This ranges from fun to powerful opportunities to be better than we would otherwise be.<\/p>\n
And bad things, sometimes very bad things come out of our thinking the team has anything real about it, anything that counts in the long run\u2026<\/p>\n