By: Jennifer Richardson Holt
I think this week I shall be brief. I have said that before and it tends to be an almost foolproof guarantee that this will prove ridiculously lengthy. I assure you that I am not making this statement in any attempt to employ reverse psychology to be able to produce quantity. In the past week or so I have just made a few observations, and I thought I would talk about the things that I have seen and the conclusions that the have resulted. I can’t say I am certain that it will not be something that perhaps you figured out long ago. And honestly, it does seem like it could be classified as something that I have probably known myself but sometimes you’re just struck by something no matter how in front of your face it may have been all along.
The past week has shown me a great deal of things that people are passionate about. No, none of them were particularly a news flash. The college football season began. And if people in this neck of the woods know nothing else, we know that people have very strong feelings about college football. But I also saw professional sports for the first time, in this case baseball. There is another population entirely that had very vested interest in professional sports. While in my area college tends to be more the focus, that is likely simply because there really aren’t any professional teams very near us and the one city that has them was where I was. I saw in that stadium people that had intense feelings about legacies and rivalries that, while I may not be that familiar with them, I can most assuredly relate to.
But telling you that people have fervent emotions toward sports is not news. You know this, as does pretty much anyone who has even causally observed the crowd a at sporting event. However, now I am going to take you a completely different route of heartfelt emotion. This week was my wedding anniversary. While yes, I wholeheartedly acknowledge that it is a very different set of emotions, they are strong and can be completely overwhelming. No, I don’t remotely equate them but just trust me on this one, I am going somewhere I assure you.
I suppose the thing that is resonating with me as of late, is how terribly efficient we are at inappropriately putting emphasis on the wrong things. There is nothing wrong with being madly in love with a certain team or sport, but should we be more than happy to jump at the chance to show our pride in a group of young men on a field all the while taking for granted the things in our lives that truly matter? Sure we celebrate anniversaries and maybe the odd special occasion. A couple could possibly do something on Valentine’s day but on any given average Wednesday in September, they just each assume the other is there for them and don’t give them a second thought. Even good friendships aren’t truly valued the way they should be. And please know everything I am saying here is stepping all over my own toes.
I’m rambling on about these things to say this. Sports are wonderful. Rivalries, traditions and gatherings of like-minded individuals to cheer on their teams is an absolute joy in which I love to partake. These things are good, in and of themselves, but if they are inappropriately adored, we have our priorities awfully out of focus. I guess I am just saying that the next time I am screaming in a stadium, or at the television as the case may be, I should take a gut and heart check. Am I this excited about the things that really and truly do matter in the grand scheme of things? Am I planning out each time I get to spend quality time with my loved ones? Am I so passionate about serving the God that made me? We are all certainly capable of true passion and devotion and we show that pretty frequently. We just have to make sure we are pointing it in the appropriate directions.
Prose and Possibilities 