The NFL and God

The NFL and God

By Michael Dwinell

Today, I saw you in a thousand faces.
Foxbow Stadium
The New England Patriots
versus the Houston Oilers
A sell-out crowd
Men
Men
Everywhere men
Eating
Cheering
Rooting
Drinking
Especially drinking
Beer after beer after beer
By the end of the first quarter,
many of the men were unsteady on their feet
Eyes glazed
Voices louder
Language cruder and cruder
By halftime,
most of the men were substantially dulled.

It was unpleasant, unattractive,
sometimes crude and offensive, stupid.
I have seen too many men that way before.
I had been that way too many times before.
I was increasingly revolted.
Intelligence and awareness
is won at too high a price.
But regardless of how revolted
or offended I was,
at the same time,
in every face, in every pair of eyes,
I saw you.
I saw the pain.
I saw the longing.
I saw the beauty.
I saw the vulnerability.
I saw your becoming,
pressing out and through in every face.
Every face led directly to you.

The contest on the field
was really about you, wasn't it?
Two teams
Opposing
Dark and white
Opposite ends of the field
Both striving to dominate
And nobody knowing the outcome
ahead of time
And the cheering
The screaming
The yelling
The booing
The fanaticism
Really all about you, isn't it?
Cheering your awful becoming.
I saw a thousand faces today.
Ugly and offensive
and filled with your presence.
All that longing leads to you
All that pain leads to your pain.
Really you were the only one there.