CHRIST IN WINTER:
Reflections on Faith from a Place of Winter for the Years of Winter… ©
Bob Butts drove in from
Brown County yesterday to have lunch. The cleaning lady was at their house, and
he needed an escape. We went to the Clover Leaf. He’s not a big baseball fan
but listened politely as I complained about the Reds’ pitching. Then we got
down to the serious business of deciding which teams to be against in the
football season.
It didn’t take us long to
decide. We’re faithful; we don’t change our againstness much. Bob is from
Mississippi and is a Mississippi State fan and is always against Notre Dame and
Ol Miss. I’m from Indiana and an IU grad and always against Alabama and Purdue.
Sometimes we have to make an adjustment, like if ND were to play Ol Miss, or
Alabama were to play Purdue. But the main thing is to know who you’re against.
Againsters can watch any
game and have a team to cheer for. No, being “for,” we have only one team to
support, Mississippi State for Bob and IU for me. As many bumper stickers in my
state say, “My two favorite teams are Indiana and whoever is playing Purdue.”
It’s just fun as football
fans, but a whole lot of folks are againsters in all of life, be it politics or
gender or religion or race or music or books or shopping or cars or… Being
“for” is not satisfying for them. They don’t get their satisfaction by seeing
something or someone win; they get their satisfaction by seeing something or
someone lose.
It’s fun on a Saturday
afternoon with nothing on the line. It’s a disaster all the rest of the time
with the world on the line.
John Robert McFarland
johnrobertmcfarland@gmail.com
Yes, I know I promised to
stop writing for a year while I try to be a real Christian instead of just a
professional Xn. But this isn’t very professional, is it?
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