Praying while Playing

Growing up as a deprived missionary kid in Colombia [can you tell by the types of clothes that we would wear??? (yikes) haha], one of the few things that I always sort of lamented growing up was the lack of possibilities I had to someday play professional football (ok, just kidding - I know I'm not that good - more like high school football).

But along with professional soccer and basketball (man I had a lot of ambition), playing American football with the Green Bay Packers was always my dream cause see, my dad was born and grew up in Title Town USA (that's short for what people call Green Bay) and every time as a family when we would go up to the States during the summer, I always remember going with my grandma to the pre-season Packer practices to catch a glimpse of the players from the best football team in the world (as of 4 days ago maybe you could have said that was debatable, but you certainly can't say that anymore).

After the Packers would finish practice, all us kids would try to get the players' autographs and some would even work their way into the privilege of holding the Packers' helmets as the players would ride back to the showers on the kids' bikes. I never brought my bike along, but I remember one day getting some second string player's autograph and thinking I was so cool. My grandma (who was a lot more persistent and a heck of a lot sweeter than I am) once even managed to get Reggie White's autograph and I still have it to this day.

It's back in my chest at home with my cheese head and all my comic books {I had Christian ones by the way - like of Jim Eliot and Corrie Ten Boome and Nikki Cruz, and even Tom Landrum [the Christian head coach for the Dallas Cowboys haha - Reggie White still hadn't come into Christian comic book existence back then (sorrows)]} and my football cards, and there in blue ink on a small white piece of paper mixed in with all that other stuff is the autograph. It says this: To Sam, Reggie White 1 Corinthians 13.

For those of you who don't know who Reggie White was, well, he was only the awesome Packers defensive end who holds 2nd place amongst all time sack leaders with 198.5 and is one of the most decorated players in all of NFL history. The well known 'Minister of Defense', as they called him, was also an evangelical minister, and had the pretty cool custom of praying with players from both our team as well as the opposing team after games.

Now, that whole topic of mixing sports with Christianity can get pretty sketchy, I know. Like for instance there are those who say that the capital "G" on the Packers helmets stands for God (WHAT?!?), and yeah, that is a little too far fetched. Actually, it's way too far fetched, just like this picture you got on your left, which is just plain creepy no matter how beautiful those Packer colors are (creepy I tell you - creepy as in Brett Favre playing for the Vikings... and that is pret.ty. creepy).

But things like praying after games - I think that's cool. I remember I used to do that with my basketball team and it was a great opportunity to show the opposing team, that win or lose - there was something more important than basketball that we lived for, and that was God.

I don't know if you caught it, but do you remember in the Super Bowl on Sunday how after his first touchdown, Greg Jennings kneeled down and made a short prayer? I don't know what he prayed, but the fact that he did, and the fact that he did it in front of 111 million US viewers alone (and that's not counting me for example - who was watching it out in the boondocks of Colombia), the fact that he did that shows that in no way is he ashamed about his faith, or about his God.

Sure, Matthew 6:5 says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full" ...but I don't think that was Jennings' attitude. I think it was probably a little more like Daniel's, who, despite the persecution of his time, customarily got down on his knees and with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, would give thanks to his God (See Daniel 6).

Besides that, a CNN reporter wrote in his blog that during the post game coverage, "A jubilant Jennings repeatedly told Fox's Pam Oliver, "To God be the glory."

Amen bro, I'm glad you're a Packer.

P.S. The above picture is what my sisters and I looked like after the devastating Packer loss of Super Bowl 32, but that's old news, man. WHO ARE THE CHAMPS NOW??? Yeah, I thought so.

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Works Cited:

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/07/the-super-bowls-faithy-moments/

Pictures Cited:
http://survjustice.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html
https://www.pinterest.com/assistman/green-bay-packers/
http://uglyfours.com/ugly-fours/tag/greg-jennings
http://www.packers.com/