I’m old enough that I actually remember using an alder for a
hockey stick on frozen ponds and a rock or a piece of ice for a puck when I was
really young. I remember actually stuffing catalogues up inside my pant legs
for shin pads. I still have, hanging in my study, the first pair of new skates
my mom and dad bought me when I was in my early teens. Yes, they are antique. I’m
of the generation that I remember many Saturdays, walking over a mile up the
road and then across fields of snow early in the day, shoveling for hours to
clear the pond, playing hockey with two or three others until it got too dark
to see the puck and then dragging my tired, cold, hungry little body home in
the dark.
I can honestly say that when I was a kid, I loved hockey. I
have many memories of watching Hockey Night in Canada (the theme music is forever
embedded in my subconscious) on Saturday evenings while my mom kept the toasted
tomato sandwiches and cold milk coming (that was one of the key ways she showed
love - by feeding people… worked for me!)
I say all this so that what I say next won’t be
misunderstood. I think hockey is a wonderful sport and sports are a wonderful
thing. But things are not like they used to be. I have watched in recent years
as sports, and it seems hockey in particular in this part of the world, have become
more than sport, a religion almost for many. Is that really possible?
Well, last week I saw a post on someone’s Facebook from a
Canadian Tire site. It read:
“Sport is at the heart
of many families and communities across Canada. It unites us as a family,
as a community, and as a nation.”
Sounds like a pretty religious thing to say if you ask me!
Anything can become an idol and nature abhors a vacuum. It
comes down to values and what you are willing to sacrifice for what, doesn’t
it. So, here’s a question. How many parents in our culture today are sacrificing
their children to the god of hockey?
A gave up hockey when I had to choose, hockey or church.
ReplyDeleteI like the illustration! Is the goalie doing stretch exercises, praying or bowing to the idol of the game?
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid and we had our first TV, it was hockey night, usually Saturday nights with homemade french fries plus Bobby Hull and Frank Mahovlich.
Now everyone is in the game and no time for God on Sundays.
As my Mom would say, "we are in the last days"; maybe more so than ever before, where there is a falling away from the things of God.
Like all things in life, it comes down to priorities and how you spend the time God gave you. Sports are great, but they should never come before God, or family.
ReplyDeleteThis is awful, A comparison to physical activity and competition to time with God.
ReplyDeleteThe first recorded use of the word "hockey" is found in the text of a royal proclamation issued by Edward III of England in 1363 banning certain types of sports and games.
[m]oreover we ordain that you prohibit under penalty of imprisonment all and sundry from such stone, wood and iron throwing; handball, football, or hockey; coursing and cock-fighting, or other such idle games.[2]
The word hockey itself is of unknown origin, although it is likely a derivative of hoquet, a Middle French word for a shepherd's stave.[3] The curved, or "hooked" ends of the sticks used for hockey would indeed have resembled these staves.
There are early representations and reports of ice hockey-type games being played on ice in the Netherlands, and reports from Canada from the beginning of the nineteenth century, but the modern game was initially organized by students at McGill University, Montreal in 1875 who, by two years later, codified the first set of ice hockey rules and organized the first teams.
Clue and short form,, hockey is a game. Fellowship in Christ is worship. many Worship Nascar racing, Many worship money (lately and even in some of our local churches). I dont know how anyone in their right mind can be so closed minded to compare a national sport enjoyed by Christians, pagans, and many other religions,, how? because it is a sport.
How many national hockey games are usually scheduled around the time of worship? Well guys, and gals,,, they can both have a part in a whole life,, Whole as in wholesome. Also, I would be keen to learn of how many people heard of Christ in any sport? Hockey is no different.
(And btw, often sports players pray before games for safety and sportsmanship.)
The feeling that hockey can unite a community,, like a family, ,,, remember Hockeyville in Salmon River? Yes, Hockey as a basis unites, encourages growth, encourages people to "do the best they possibly can" due to the competitive nature. God does not want an idle field, but a field who enjoys life, even if it is hockey oriented. God allows us choice. If I could play, I would be there too and probably ministering to those who don't know God. A religion? you must feel really threatened.
Anonymous, I didn't receive notification of your comment to publish so I'm just finding it now. Sorry about that. Don't know why it didn't come into my inbox as it normally does. In answer to your question, or was it an accusation? No, I don't feel so much threatened as I feel sad. My comments were not meant to disparage hockey. To the contrary, hockey is the best game going. But, as per the point you make over and over, it is just a GAME. And like anything else in life that is less important than the things that matter for all eternity it is a very sad thing when it is allowed to figure so prominently in people's lives that they end up sacrificing things that matter far more. It's not about hockey. It's about anything that becomes an idol in our lives. Thanks for the history lesson though. Very nice.
ReplyDelete