Russellings of the Spirit

Greetings, friends. As some of you are aware, it is SUPER BOWL SUNDAY here in the U.S. 

For others, the above phrase might as well have been spoken in a completely foreign language. 

In case you are wondering, the SUPER BOWL is the culmination of the professional American football season… an annual ritual involving food, fun, friends, and frivolity. 

[According to prevailing copyright rules, the only people allowed to use the words SUPER BOWL together like that are the owners of the phrase. I am not one of those owners, so by using it so flagrantly, I am in danger of having the pants sued off of me. Nevertheless, I soldier on…]

For a lot of folks (WAAAY too many, honestly) this day is an excuse to crowd together and overindulge while being entertained by slickly produced TV commercials sandwiched between bouts of a football game they have little to no interest in.

Not true for me last year. And not true this year for me, either. 

Because now, for the second year in a row, you see, MY TEAM – the Kansas City Chiefs – is actually playing in the Super Bowl! 

And as much as I keep reminding myself that it is just a game and that games are a minor, inconsequential part of life, my excitement and adrenaline continue to grow. 

Of course it is ridiculous and borderline blasphemous to draw any parallels between my 40+ years waiting for the Chiefs to make it to the Super Bowl and the 40 years the Israelites spent meandering toward the promised land. The suggestion that a life without an NFL championship bears even a REMOTE resemblance to a life without fundamental freedoms is morally indefensible and outlandish. 

So please understand… that is NOT what I am saying.

What I am saying is: DANG it is fun when your favorite team makes it to the BIG GAME. 

Yes… it is good to remind myself that God loves Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans just as much as God loves Chiefs fans. I am also clear that God unconditionally loves people who don’t give a flying flip about what happens later today in the Super Bowl. 

But for right now I am going to close with a totally partisan, non-inclusive “GO CHIEFS! BEAT THOSE BUCS! RUN IT BACK!”

Now… can somebody please pass the nachos?

Abundant blessings