Of Sports and Bibles

I’m watching the Winter Classic on TV with my brother and right now, it’s still 0 to 0. Besides being sick of the Rose Parade ("Look!!! This float’s decorative scrolls are made out of two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand white amaryllis!!!" That gets old after about two seconds. :-D) I think it’s pretty cool that they’re playing hockey at Fenway Park (can you tell I’m a Red Sox fan?) and it was even more cool when Daniel Powter sang “O Canada.” (I don’t want to sound all fannish but I admit that having him sing was a nice touch on the event planner’s part.) Another random note... When I asked my brother if he knew why Daniel Powter always wears a hat, he said, “Hezes zald?” My brother was putting his rubber bands on his braces at the time, so he was a little hard to understand. (And that’s not the reason Daniel Powter wears a hat.) And we’re waiting for the announcement about which NHL players made the USA Team for the Olympics. (That’s very important. :-) ) Anyway, the commercials are the same as baseball season... especially that one by Budweiser where they say, “The difference is drinkability.” Hearing that slogan reminded me of something that happened last summer. Our church decided to change our pew Bibles from the New International Version to the English Standard Version and to ease us into it, they had the ESV salesman come and talk to the congregation. I was unimpressed and a little annoyed by his speaking during church...not only do I prefer the NIV but there’s just something wrong about sales pitches in church. I kept thinking about the time Jesus overturned the tables in the temple and wondering if the deacon and elders would tackle me if I tried the same thing. Deciding they would, I just tried to tune out the salesman but that’s easier said than done. About halfway through the spiel, when the salesman said, “The ESV is so readable...” I leaned over to my brother and whispered, “The difference is readability.” We spent the rest of the service trying not to dissolve into fits.... :-) I think I’ve been watching too much baseball and hockey.

:-)