Here's Pastor Dave McDowell's weekly devotional that he sends out to members of his church. Dave is my brother and serves as the Music Minister at Stewartstown UMC in PA.
The old joke is
I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.
Well last week,
I went to a hockey game
and a circus broke out.
If you have never been to a hockey game,
it is somewhat akin to a meeting of some secret society.
Unlike football, baseball, or basketball,
hockey is a subcultural gathering of people
that in any other setting,
might be subject by the police to a breathalyzer test or search warrant.
Don't get me wrong.....
I have nothing against hockey fans,
after all,
I am a once a year member of the club.
It started with the hockey horn.
You know what I mean......
Those three foot plastic horns,
found in the toy section
of any below grade store.
Grown men buy them for $2.95.
(Mine is gold)
The horn appears to incite grown men to
return to their Viking roots,
as they sound the battle cry before, during, and after the game.
Goal scored by the home team......sound the horn
Great defensive play by the goalie.....blow the horn
Fight breaks out (either on the ice or in the stands).....sound the horn
Buy nachos at concessions.......blow the horn
The bellowing sound emitted from this piece of plastic
only comes in three sizes: loud, louder & loudest.
The Vikings, which were scattered throughout the arena,
were well received and applauded for their efforts.....
except for the old lady
who was sitting directly in front of me.
It wasn't until the end of the game
that I grasped the body language of what
her hands covering her ears meant.
The old lady sitting next to her,
(who was knitting)
didn't appear to like it either
Who knits at a hockey game???
I knew things were getting pretty crazy
when during the first break,
they brought a gigantic hot dog gun out onto the ice
and preceded to shoot what appeared to be hot dogs
into the crowd.
(even Vikings need to eat)
What was disappointing was that they didn't launch any condiments .....
If you think the hockey game was crazy,
the restrooms weren't much better.
It was there that I met alien Elvis.
You know who I mean.
He has the signature Elvis hair
but also has antennae coming out of his head.
He also wears a cape over his hockey jersey.
Men have a rule in restrooms...
Don't talk....ever.
Even Vikings abide by this rule.
As much as I have wanted to talk all my life to alien Elvis,
I abided by the code of silence, and exited the restroom
It was out at the concessions
that I ran into ANOTHER alien Elvis.
Much like discovering two Santa Clauses
at neighboring department stores,
I knew that I had been had.
That was, until the concessions alien Elvis
explained that he had an evil twin.
He assured me, as he munched on his el grande nachos,
that he was the good alien Elvis.
Going to a hockey game
can make you feel like an alien, an outsider.
After all, who normally cheers for fights to erupt?
Who normally walks around blowing on a cheap plastic horn?
The apostle Paul said that if we are walking in the light of Christ,
then our response to the world is that we feel like aliens,
like we don't belong here.
That there is another world much better suited
to those who are arrayed in the light of Christ.
Much like alien Elvis was caped,
so we are caped in Christ.
And yes, we appear as strange and peculiar to a world
that lives wearing the cape of another.
If you feel right at home in this world,
like you belong here,
you might ask yourself,
whose cape am I wearing?
By the way,
both alien Elvises made the jumbo-tron.
And yes, the home team won, 8-3.
My Viking lips were dead by the end of the game.
So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and are of God's household.
Ephesians 2:19
The old joke is
I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out.
Well last week,
I went to a hockey game
and a circus broke out.
If you have never been to a hockey game,
it is somewhat akin to a meeting of some secret society.
Unlike football, baseball, or basketball,
hockey is a subcultural gathering of people
that in any other setting,
might be subject by the police to a breathalyzer test or search warrant.
Don't get me wrong.....
I have nothing against hockey fans,
after all,
I am a once a year member of the club.
It started with the hockey horn.
You know what I mean......
Those three foot plastic horns,
found in the toy section
of any below grade store.
Grown men buy them for $2.95.
(Mine is gold)
The horn appears to incite grown men to
return to their Viking roots,
as they sound the battle cry before, during, and after the game.
Goal scored by the home team......sound the horn
Great defensive play by the goalie.....blow the horn
Fight breaks out (either on the ice or in the stands).....sound the horn
Buy nachos at concessions.......blow the horn
The bellowing sound emitted from this piece of plastic
only comes in three sizes: loud, louder & loudest.
The Vikings, which were scattered throughout the arena,
were well received and applauded for their efforts.....
except for the old lady
who was sitting directly in front of me.
It wasn't until the end of the game
that I grasped the body language of what
her hands covering her ears meant.
The old lady sitting next to her,
(who was knitting)
didn't appear to like it either
Who knits at a hockey game???
I knew things were getting pretty crazy
when during the first break,
they brought a gigantic hot dog gun out onto the ice
and preceded to shoot what appeared to be hot dogs
into the crowd.
(even Vikings need to eat)
What was disappointing was that they didn't launch any condiments .....
If you think the hockey game was crazy,
the restrooms weren't much better.
It was there that I met alien Elvis.
You know who I mean.
He has the signature Elvis hair
but also has antennae coming out of his head.
He also wears a cape over his hockey jersey.
Men have a rule in restrooms...
Don't talk....ever.
Even Vikings abide by this rule.
As much as I have wanted to talk all my life to alien Elvis,
I abided by the code of silence, and exited the restroom
It was out at the concessions
that I ran into ANOTHER alien Elvis.
Much like discovering two Santa Clauses
at neighboring department stores,
I knew that I had been had.
That was, until the concessions alien Elvis
explained that he had an evil twin.
He assured me, as he munched on his el grande nachos,
that he was the good alien Elvis.
Going to a hockey game
can make you feel like an alien, an outsider.
After all, who normally cheers for fights to erupt?
Who normally walks around blowing on a cheap plastic horn?
The apostle Paul said that if we are walking in the light of Christ,
then our response to the world is that we feel like aliens,
like we don't belong here.
That there is another world much better suited
to those who are arrayed in the light of Christ.
Much like alien Elvis was caped,
so we are caped in Christ.
And yes, we appear as strange and peculiar to a world
that lives wearing the cape of another.
If you feel right at home in this world,
like you belong here,
you might ask yourself,
whose cape am I wearing?
By the way,
both alien Elvises made the jumbo-tron.
And yes, the home team won, 8-3.
My Viking lips were dead by the end of the game.
So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and are of God's household.
Ephesians 2:19
.
No comments:
Post a Comment