To Pray or to Play? That is the question…

I like to think God has an extended to do list these days (any day for that matter).
A brief review of the Google World News home page seemingly supports my assertion that the big man (I say that with great respect) is a tad pre-occupied. At least he should be! Case in point, today’s headlines include the following…

• Suicide Attack Kills 13 in northern Cameroon
• Last-minute snag delays Iron nuclear agreement again
• Recession fears all too real for Canadians struggling to cope
• Bagdhad Car Bombs kill 19 – injure 53
• Drug Lord Joaquin “El Chapo” escapes from jail for 2nd time.
• Siberian Army barracks collapse – kills 23

With all of this going on how does he make time for all of the athletes that take time to pray before, during and after games. Now, let me be clear…this is not an anti-prayer blog. I think it is a timing blog and an understanding of what I imagine is God’s to do list and what it should look like.

In fact, I want to be clear that I am a prayer advocate. I pray. I pray a lot. With 3 kids under the age of 6 terrorizing the house I need prayer. Not to get off topic but can someone explain the beacon like attraction kids have for sharpies or better yet…why does the magic sponge not erase the evidence off the wall? It should be called “the almost magic sponge!”.

Here is my point regarding prayer in athletics…athletes sign a waiver form. All athletes sign waiver forms. If you need your lord and savior to survive a game you may want to look into taking up a less violent, less demanding gig. I played professional football and it took me about 5 seconds to realize that it was a violent game. Always has been and always will be. Players get hurt and they get hurt often. The game is not designed to be kind to the human form. It just isn’t. Its repeated car wrecks! NASCAR drivers shake their heads in disbelief while watching a football game. At least in NASCAR the drivers are all going the same speed or close to it when something goes south (literally) and they are all going in the same direction so the laws of colliding inertia’s don’t necessarily apply (not even sure if there is such a thing as colliding inertia’s!). To quote Ella Fitzgerald, “Somethings Gotta Give” and it inevitably does! So why pray?

When I got knocked out during a game against the B.C. Lions I did not wake up feeling like I had to revisit my relationship with God. My first thought was…”that was cover 1 and not cover 2 as I had earlier suspected!My bad!”. Worth noting, I still don’t know who hit me but he had brown eyes!

At the end of the day the decision to throw my body into a souped up demolition derby is my call and mine alone. Sitting back asking God why I suffered a season ending injury has more to do with the free safety/human heat seeking missile that drilled me over the middle than a higher power and his or her grand plan for me.

Today I can look back and vaguely recall the touchdowns, games won and games lost. Oddly enough, I can also acutely offer an exact inventory of each and every one of my injuries. Here is a small taste of what is an extensive menu.

• Torn ACL (1 major surgery and 4 arthroscopic procedures to clean scar tissue)
• Broken leg and ankle (2 surgeries)
• Seperated Shoulder
• Broken nose (3 times)
• Torn Quad
• Broken transverse processes
• Torn rib cartilage
• Blown up bursa sac
• 2 teeth punctured my lower lip
• At least 4 concussions…maybe 5 – I can’t remember!

You may now be thinking one of two things…”He is the bravest football player ever!” or “He is the worst football player ever!”

Either way playing the game demanded a price. That’s my point. I knew it and I made the decision to pass go and collect $200!

I signed the waiver. Again, its worth repeating…I SIGNED THE WAIVER! So, the simple act of signing up for the game of tackle football should in my opinion disqualify you from asking for heaven sent help. God may have looked down shaking his head when I did but it was my decision. Whatever occurred on the field was simply a consequence of putting my John Hancock on the contract. You can run (and hopefully faster than the guy chasing you) but you cannot hide.

Athletes give blessings for their relationship with their Lord and Savior. I have no issue with that but like any great relationship sometimes your best friend lets you do things that you simply want to do! Things that may come back to bite you in the backside!
Lighting fireworks off the top of your head = bad idea! Car surfing with no t-shirt on? Even worse idea! Asking grade 8 hottie Cheryl Fong to dance knowing full well that she was going steady with school tough guy Warren Green? Initially a great idea until the song ended…then it became a very bad idea! Sometimes your friends need to let you do what you need to do! Sometimes you just need to take credit or own the consequence.

So back to prayer in sports. Football players are not alone in their bid for spiritual support. All athletes are guilty. Baseball, basketball, soccer, ultimate! Okay not ultimate! In baseball isn’t it a waste of time to pray before stepping in to face a pitcher with the hope that the big manager in the sky helps you hit a hanging curve ball? If you pray ans strike out who is responsible for you not taking the bat off of your shoulder? You or you know who?

Prayer will not help. At least I hope it doesn’t. If it does I can’t help but think God’s priorities are a little off. If anything he should hit the mute button when each game day prayer call comes in knowing the holy switchboard would be overwhelmed! Or better yet, set up a heavenly athlete specific voice mail message along the lines of ” Hey its me…I am kind of busy right now but based on the number of times you are praying to me…I will see you sooner than you can imagine! Especially if you continue to miss the strong side safety blitz or fail to keep your head up when you are playing Scott Stevens and the New Jersey Devils! And by the way..if and when you do score a TD I had nothing to do with it and if you drop a ball when the game is on the line that is on you. Its not part of a grand plan I have for you. Think about it this way…if I helped you and not your opponent I would be playing favorites and from a optics standpoint it just does not go over well with the masses!”.

Now, I know some will be exclaiming to the clouds on high that I should be mindful of the timber in my own eye as I point out the sliver in the eye of others. I am not judging. I just think somewhere along the way football players and every other athlete should take ownership of their decision to compete in high risk athletics. Maybe its just me but if you need the man upstairs to help you find your athletic giant within, you may want to think about alternate career paths.

Besides, if you have a personal relationship with your Lord and Savior one would think that the relationship is strong enough to call each other out on things. Sort of like the friendship Matt Damon and Ben Affleck enjoyed in Good Will Hunting without the swearing, boozing, fighting etc. At the end of the day they could call each other on stuff and still enjoy a great friendship. God may want you to know that there is a time to pray and there is a time to play.