Battle New Face

My son and his daughter were at Scotiabank Saddledome along with about 19000 ‘faithful’ at last night’s version of the Battle of Alberta. Others of us interested family members did our duty in front of the trusty television in our family room. Still others in our family totally into doing other things.😊

It was a fun evening leaving this grandpa with some morning after thoughts. First thing which comes to mind is that byword “Battle” which has resided in this province for decades. Even as we in front of the tube were high-fiving each other with the closing good luck which yielded a W for the Oilers, we were immediately inundated with disappointed critiques from sports commentators, the talking heads. This was no battle of Alberta, was the appraisal of these professionals who make their living trying to say obvious things as smoothly as possible. Battles according to the apparent standard require hard hits, standing up for team mates, fights, perhaps some game misconducts, etc. etc; something for the faithful to really cheer about. Of course we were treated to clips of a dirty knee hit which sent Edmonton’s superstar Connor McDavid rolling, and – for shame - nobody from the Oilers team stepped up to lay a licken on the Flames’ culprit. Nope, just a nice competitive hockey game! After the game the culprit Mackenzie Weegar spoke like a statesman taking responsibility for some bad moves which apparently cost them the game. Calgary 1, Edmonton 2. Flames coach Suter after this game amazingly casual, in his usual unique assessment, said they played easily on par with Edmonton, only “didn’t score a couple times.” I appreciated Coach's perspective, much enjoyed the game which featured fantastic goaltending and perhaps a few players on both teams a little slower than usual with a little too much Christmas turkey? Instead of ‘the battle’ it was a good Alberta-up-and-down-the-Queen-E hockey game. My son (residing in Ontario but a sentimental Oilers fan) as per his engaging personality had many fun banters with Flames fans, all acknowledging the importance of hockey games with fans on both sides. Perhaps a new day is emerging.

There are other things, probably more noticeable to a fixed income senior like me not quite attuned to present-day appetites and budgets. In my day, scalpers used to be those of questionable repute on game day holding up a couple of tickets at ‘special price’. Fans (customers) would risk scoring either a bargain entrance fee or not getting in at all. It was a risk! Today it’s still a risk, but you do it online, just like everything else online. My son and granddaughter indulged their last minute decision by logging into scalpers of the day, a Gametime website, and then watched the going price of available seats complete with a visual of the location, with prices dropping hour by hour minute by minute, perhaps taking a dive just before faceoff – or perhaps a last minute rise – just like gambling! 😏 After purchase you go to Ticketmaster (yes) to procure the appropriate bar code for your cellphone to get you in the door. As per most fast and easy online transactions you're paying U.S. dollars, and as they also discovered, a surprise extra service fee at the gate. If you click the required fees at the right twists and turns you get to join the party - quite sleazy actually. You have now been accommodated by the U.S. and the www just to get into a game to be played by two neighboring Canadian hockey teams!

And other things (Yes now my thinker again). For me the topic gets larger and admittedly on theme with other 'things' that appear in these blogposts. Those who read here regularly may even predict what I may yet venture into. In this latest Yuletide season my heart has gone out especially to pastors and other leaders of churches and other religious, those holding forth as per official requirement of the faithful. Not necessarily Battles of Alberta but there are seasonal expectations. So whether the template is The Church Year as per Lectionary or Advent Hymn Sings as per favorite long-time choir conductors or Theological Treatises on eternal worth of the virgin Mary or remembering so-and-so’s prescribed way of doing Christmas Eve Candlelight Service or asking about so-and-so’s children whether absent or present at any of the special services 😉 - my perspectives obviously filtered by memories of the years when I served as a church pastor. In these 'special seasons', sentiments want to be the driving force. Sentimental rules trump original thinking.

The Big Original for us Christians is the birth of Jesus, still the greatest meaning and the reason to assemble year-in and year-out. Hebrews 10:25 has something to say about that, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. The original Christmas has new potential and surprise possibilities even for the sentimentally addicted once-a-year church attendees. The real challenge of leaders is to meditate on this truth and facilitate it among the people. Yes, the sheep still need shepherding. If it becomes merely seasonal routine then everyone is in trouble. Jesus said this well when his leadership was coming into question, When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36).  Leadership anointed by God? Undeniably needed still.

It is among the sentimentalities and requirements of faith communities that my kinship with hockey and other sports comes to mind. In this day we have a way of accommodating everyone at least if its profitable, to whit Santa Claus in the malls and Boxing Day sales! And it is with a price, and probably with a compromise. So you want last minute game day entrance? It’s available, but with international service fees. You want a perfect exercise regimen that will help you recover after holiday overeating? It’s available also online. You’re not into hockey, but you’re a gambler? Log into Bet 99 or 365 and make it a money game. You want healthcare? It’s available in the U.S.A if you can afford it and your government won’t cover. You want good sermons? Search the web a bit and you may discover a perfect purveyor of the Word (your word). You want a better price for a kitchen appliance or kids clothing or even groceries? Order online from Amazon. All of these are today’s ways of getting what our very heart desires right now. A word of caution! CAUTION, do not forget about your church, your friends, your fellow hockey players and your neighborhood including both friends and enemies.

In this new day all things seem to be available to all, and yet interestingly not to any. All are faced with new opportunities along with subtle compromises - some things hardly change! At the moment I am reading a book, a Christmas gift from my daughter. The Paris Bookseller, written by Kerri Maher (New York: Berkley, 2022), is about authors and artists promoting their ware and also wanting to make a difference. Here is a quote in answer to a request to write something, “I don’t think I’d say anything more or different from what [others] are already saying. I want to do something. Doing was how she’d made the most impact in her life: knocking on doors, handing out blankets, tilling soil.” The scene is Paris in1920! It’s just after WW1 and it's people hobnobbing about the war's impact on local economy, about American influences in all things, what kind of books can be legally published, and what is this world coming to anyway ...? It might well be conversations and opinions bantered about in social media and coffee shops just this past year 2022! 

By now another reading intrudes itself on my mind. It is the wise one in the Old Testament, already been around for a while, 

 Whatever is has already been,
    and what will be has been before;
    and God will call the past to account (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

And also the present and the future. Even among the conservatives, the liberals, the rich and the homeless, among the despots, among the desperately faithful and the faithless, I cannot but refer to issues political, recreational or religious, most of them with fundraising requests, especially at end of year relentlessly in my inbox, especially this week! The temptation is to ignore them all ... or maybe donate lots, because they represent causes I believe in and already involved with, and also so I won’t pay too much income tax for the year 2022!  

Very human us humans, and also in presence of the Very Divine. Some things still the same.