The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
November 25, 2007
Vol. 10 no. 43

Everything But...
           Let me tell you, it is not easy at all to be talking about Jesus crucified between the two criminals when the Roughriders are about to play in the Grey Cup in a few hours. Even the criminals want to know the score!
           Perhaps since it is in the Lectionary scheme of things that we seldom get to talk about the events of the Passion, or for that matter, the Riders in the Grey Cup, once every 10 years is about right. If there is ever any doubt that the Riders are a Saskatchewan religion, this is holy week.
           A lot of people throughout the years have attempted to relate the playing of sports to the practice of faith, some better than others. There are some dubious analogies, and ones that fit very well.
           Enter Taylor Field (sorry, I use the older versions of the Bible!) and on game time it is a sacred space, a sanctuary, the Right Place. What happens in a sanctuary? Special things that ordinarily don’t happen in normal life. In the church these are called holy; on Taylor Field, big plays.
           Yet, a sanctuary is only a sanctuary at the Right Time. A football game is 60 minutes, but it is not a normal minutes, but sacred time. Special (holy) things can only happen at special (holy) times. Just imagine the things that would happen if Canadian Football had “injury time” like soccer or football for the rest of the world!
           Sports are one of the few consistent arenas of hope. There is always the possibility that something better will happen, if not in the last minute or before the final out, then there’s always next season. Faith feeds on hope. Saskatchewan is intimately familiar with the hope of next season from decades of hoping that this year is the Right Time and the Right Place.