Jan 23, 2010

Athletic Voodoo

I'm not always a superstitious kind of guy but when it comes to the Jets I kinda fall into that faction who gives some credence to athletic voodoo. My dog has a Jets jersey and so do I. When the dog wears his the Jets consistently win. When I wear mine, it's a mixed review. Guess what he'll be wearing come Sunday.



However, the Jets being the Jets (the team hasn't won the Super Bowl since 1969) will do all they can to jinx their way out of the playoffs. Take this shirt for instance:



What are they thinking? Ok it's irrational, I admit it. But this is more presumptuous than the Obama Nobel Prize.

Still the thoughts of jinxes and hexes and all those things that we sometimes lend our own thinking too is perhaps the stuff of a lack of faith. Do we really believe that a jersey or t-shirt holds that kind of power over the hard work of an entire team of professional athletes? Do we hold so little hope that we become a self-fulfilling prophecy?

What does God think about all of this? I suppose it's all in good fun at times but what happens when we apply the idea of divine retribution to situations like Haiti? We're giving credence in a sense to folks like Pat Robertson when we speak of even this kind of athletic voodoo.

Guess what folks? God's not rooting for the Jets. Or the Colts. Or the Vikings or the Saints. Well...maybe the saints...just not those Saints.

Instead God hopes that we can challenge one another to become the best that we can be. Much like an athletic competition, we compete not for God's love, rather we look to one another to better ourselves and the world.

May the best team win.

Pst. Just in case, Haze will wear the jersey! =0

2 comments:

Kelly said...

So sorry about the Jets. I was rooting for them. Since I'm from Philadelphia, you know I feel your pain. I grew up in Rochester, NY, and the Buffalo Bills were our Philadelphia Eagles. Always good, but never good enough.

Hey, there's always next year!

Anonymous said...

Our dog has a little Vikings bandana we bought him this per-season. When he wore it, they won. When he didn't - like when we went to visit my son at school (Steelers) or to Florida for the Chriatmas holidays (Carolina & Chicago), they lost. 100% accurate. Until yesterday. Sigh - I feel your pain.

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