Questioning the Call to Watch the Super Bowl

There is quite a loud “call” to watch the Super bowl. It is everywhere. It is hard to escape. Nearly everyone will watch it and nearly everyone will talk about it. The talk has already begun  The game will be analyzed, critiqued and the masses will offer their pontifications.

Very few will ever question this call to watch the game. Somehow participating in this game (well not really participating, but sitting and watching and yelling), seems to be our response to something that resembles a God given calling.  It has become almost like a national holiday, a ‘religious’ day and the norm of most of society. To many people this game, the social gatherings around it and the commercials is the greatest entertainment event of the year.   

If for no other reason other than the fact that it seems as though everyone else is doing it, I question it. Since when do we assume the masses are right? 

I pose the question: What would it take for someone to decide to not be engaged in the game? What would it have to take for someone to say this has gone far enough and to admit that something is deeply wrong here and refuse to be a part of it?  Could this game and all that is built around it ever feel deeply morally and spiritually wrong to the point where we feel it could be wrong to watch ? What would it take?

Could it be the millions and millions of dollars made by many different parties involved? Could it be the poor role models and poor sportsmanship demonstrated by many of the athletes and coaches and fans? Could it be the human sex trafficking that takes place around this event? Could it be that we realize that there must be something barbaric and desperate inside of us that wants to watch a game of such violence? Could it be all the drinking and partying associated with the game and people acting foolishly?  Could it be an awareness that we become addicted  to this game  and “need” this event to feel ‘alive’?  Could it be that we have propped up this game and it  has become a sort of religion for us?

Call me a party pooper but I for one will not watch it. I have had enough.

But what a good day to ski, fish, go for a long run or read a book. 

Tell No One: Creatures Hidden In the Forest

There is a small ski lift in Breckenridge that overlooks a small wetland area. It is a small forested shadowy area with a creek and trail that takes you over small wooden bridges. This small area reminds me of how I picture parts of Norway where stories originated of trolls hiding under bridges. It is hard to really believe this small secluded oasis exists at the base of Breckenridge, a mega-developed ski area.

I feel drawn to the seclusion of this little forest so when I grow tired of the noise and hype of the slopes I will often slip down into this area and cross country ski or run the trail. It is quiet and in the shadows. I feel kind of hidden down there. And apparently some large creatures feel the same way.

I decided to start the morning riding the lift and to work some telle turns down some easy runs. I could always detour off the main run and drop into the forest when I felt the need.  While riding the lift I was already feeling the pull of the forest and found myself gazing through the trees searching for the trail. My vision of the trail was partially blocked by the trees but I could see parts of it and pleased to see that heavy snow had found its way through the trees and covered the forest floor. As I was scanning the trail my eyes focused in on the outlines of what seemed to be two large animals. My first thought was that someone had put up a prop outline of a bear; a one dimensional silhouette made out of some dark metal. But then they moved.  Next thought; real Bears?  But they looked different than bear. The forms did not fit into any known pattern or image in my mind.  As strange as this may sound my mind then jumped to trolls even though I knew that was nearly impossible.  I leaned as I struggled to get a better visual. I was only getting glimpses as the chair moved along and up the mountain.  I only had several more seconds before I would be pulled past. Finally, I got an uninterrupted clear view and saw that the creatures were actually two moose.  They are strange looking creatures.  I kind of got excited. How often does one see moose in Colorado? Then, perhaps rather foolishly and impulsively, I yelled to the guys in the chair ahead of me and then to the couple below me; “Hey, there are two moose down there. Do you see them?”.  (I pointed and yelled again).  “Hey, you guys up there do you see them”?  It was strange (sort of like a twilight zone or a dream), but it was as though no one could hear me or understand me or they couldn’t see or maybe they were indifferent to my claim.  

Several minutes later I unloaded the lift pushing myself off the chair. Still excited about the images I had just seen I tried to tell the lift operator when I got off, “Hey, I saw two moose down below. Any one else see them?” But he apparently did not hear me either. How strange I thought.   

I’m not sure what to make of all this but I decided to shut my mouth. After I skied several runs I decided to run the trail and look around in the forest. Maybe I could find them. I brought my camera. I thought I had a reasonable chance of seeing them. How could two large moose hide in that small forest? I ran the trail back and forth and around and back again several times. Never saw a thing. Not even a track.

Now, I really do not believe in enchanted trolls that can appear and disappear in the forest. And I am not too fond of holding to the delusion that I was the only one who was supposed to see those creatures.

I know when I feel I am not being heard I feel kind of stupid for trying to share any thing with others.  It is often difficult for me to communicate my experiences to others because I tend to over think things. And spiritual experiences are even particularly more difficult.

Then I thought of an old story being on a much grander scale.  I thought of when the disciples had the amazing spiritual experience of seeing Jesus transfigured next to Elijah and Moses on the mountain and his face shone like the sun, and afterwards, when they were all coming down from the mountain, Jesus said to them, “Tell no one”.

“Tell no one”? Are you kidding me? The disciples were to be quiet about what they just saw?  Now, if that were me and if I ever had such a spiritual experience I think I would be yelling it all over the place similar to how I reacted when I saw the two large creatures.

But Jesus, at least at times, says, “Tell no one”.  I think we need to hear those words.

Maybe, during those rare times when we really have some kind of a spiritual experience we should first figure out what we have truly seen and what it means. Maybe I need to ask myself:  Do I really understand what just took place?  Was it just wishful thinking?   

And then and maybe only then I can consider if I know how to authentically, reverently and humbly communicate my experience with out appearing like a crazy fool or a ‘know it all’.  

I was left wondering why no one could hear me tell about the moose.  Maybe it was  because I came across as bragging.  Or maybe I was being overly dramatic and sensationalizing the experience? This is easy to do with spiritual experiences and of course, great fishing days. And I discovered that most people don’t really want to hear about all the fish I caught. Nor dramatic “all about me” spiritual experiences. Imagine that.

I need to ask myself truthfully, “What did I really see in those woods”?  Was it a prop, bear, moose or trolls?

Speaking of trolls, I just remembered I did not look under the bridge?

Until I can answer those questions, perhaps the best thing to do is to “tell no one”.

Perhaps, Earthly Things First

Note:  I know this title alone will cause some to think I have my priorities all messed up. And maybe that is the case. I just  know that  in my own quest of trying to learn of spiritual things that often I get it all backwards. Therefore, perhaps, at least at times, Earthly Things First.  

Jesus, told Nicodemus that he needed to be born of spirit and Jesus tried to explain to him how the wind was like the spirit.  But Nicodemus didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how a person could be born a second time.  Jesus said to him, “If you do not understand earthly things how will you understand spiritual things”?

It seems that Jesus is suggesting that we can’t skip over understanding earthly things if we are going to understand spiritual realities. We can’t just skip this step. In fact, I think we have to keep going back and relearning the earthly things as we pursue the spiritual. The path to spiritual knowledge seems to work in cycles, going back to the beginning, going back to earthly things, just as natural cycles of earth go round and round and just as Jesus some times takes us back to the beginning; Birth.  

I think Jesus was getting at something very important when he told us to, “Consider the Lily of the field”. He wanted us to consider the earthly qualities of the lily, its birth, life and death, to such an extent that we would also learn some deeper meaning. He asks us to really know the lily and spend some time with it and then we might grasp something spiritual about the lily and life. But, perhaps, as Jesus said to Nicodemus, if we are not learning the earthly things we will not get the spiritual.

Why are we not learning the earthly, natural things such as knowing how to read the skies to know if a storm is approaching or how to read the waters we fish? Most of us could not grow or obtain our own food. Why is it that so much of our culture lives life separate from natural processes?

Maybe we are just not interested, or, we don’t think earthly things are important. Maybe we were taught that wilderness has nothing to do with our spirituality when in fact our Biblical tradition tells us it does.  Maybe we just think it is more important to stay at home inside and read books about the spiritual and maybe we just don’t want to get cold, or dirty and be away from our computer gadgets, TV’s., and the comforts we have grown accustomed to.

I often meet Christians who may know their Bible and can talk about religious ideas but often there is a lack of intensity and depth. Spiritual ideas can be too domesticated and sterile.  Maybe they lack time in the “wilderness” missing nature's wonders and brutalities and at the same time miss something of the “wildness” of God.  Perhaps they have not been grounded with earthly things. A spirituality without the weight and grounding experience of earthly things seems light and lofty.  Perhaps we all need some kind of an on-going wilderness experience to know the depth and weight of earthly things so that our spiritual experience has a place to settle.   

Consider the lily said Jesus. Look at it long enough to really know that one lily on the side of the path you take to a river or the top of a mountain. Consider it, look at it, and spend time with it.

Or, consider that one tiny mayfly you often stare at and try to imitate with your hand tied flies as you watch trout sip them.  Watch that one mayfly closely. And watch that one big rainbow as it feeds. Pay attention to the swarms of mayflies overhead that fall to the water. Wonder why the fish sometimes eat them like it was their last meal or on other days, ignore them entirely.  Watch the mayflies live and die only to be reborn the next morning. Watch them die out when Fall approaches only to be born again the following Spring. Then, after several decades of standing in the river and taking into consideration these tiny bugs you may understand some thing of the Spirit. Maybe; maybe not.

Jesus spoke of other natural things such as wind, water, mountain, meadow, seeds, rock and soil. Yes, even, dirt. Jesus asks us to consider dirt and to be aware of the depth and fertility of soil in our souls. He asks us to strongly consider if seeds that blow in on the wind from another kingdom could grow in our hearts and take root and grow strong.

Do we have enough earth? Do we have enough fertile ground inside our souls?  And, do we know enough of Earthly things to understand spiritually what He is trying to teach us?

Paradise Lost And Found: Fly Fishing Possibilities In Colorado

Milton in Paradise Lost describes Eden, as, “a world that was all before them”.

Eden reminds me of how Norman Maclean, in "A River Runs Through It",  described the Montana of his youth; “It was a world with dew still on it, more touched by wonder and possibility than any I have since known.”  .

I thought of the “Edens”  I have experienced. I remember the first time as a boy I walked into a small valley to fish a pond teeming with big fish. Those were glorious mornings in a forest “with dew still on it”. For a short time, that valley, the pond, the trees, the grasses and the fish all became my Eden and it was all before me, “touched with wonder and possibility’. I felt that wonder deeply and embraced the possibilities.

Moving to Colorado when I was in my twenties was another time when it felt as though “The whole world was all before me”, and “with dew still on it”. I skied and ran over snow covered mountains and fished meandering trout streams, still water lakes, all “touched by wonder and possibility”  

The story is told how Adam and Even lost their Eden. There are times when I feel my own paradise lost. Perhaps even every day I feel some of it lost through my own stubborn solitary ways or my own ungratefulness or foolish fears. Or, maybe it is the brokenness of life itself that I feel. Or maybe I am just getting old.   

Maybe I shouldn’t but I try to bring Eden back. I sometimes try to imagine seeing the world, my Eden, as it was for the first time. I try to see it as a world that is all laid out before me;  A world with infinite wonder and possibility. A world with dew still on it.

I try to remember that this is a place, even this place, as a world that God called good. And I sometimes wonder if, even now, I can see it all as ‘they’ once did, as I perhaps once did;  a world declared good.

A new year has begun. I am getting ready to retire this Spring. “The whole world is before me. Where to choose?  Providence my guide.”  Can I once again see a world touched by wonder and infinite possibility?

I begin with “wandering steps and slow”;

The World was all before them, where to choose
Their place of rest, and Providence their guide:
They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow,
Through Eden took their solitary  way.

                                     Paradise Lost by Milton