Exploring the spirituality of Super Bowl Sunday

The seats are filled with worshipers.
Their voices chant and cheer.
It’s really almost spiritual.
You’d think that God was here.

They raise their hands and close their eyes.
They bow their heads and pray.
What happens next? They genuflect
and then they start to sway.

A wave of praise moves through the crowd.
They stand up to confess
allegiance to the pigskin god
while clad in their team’s dress.

Like Romans back in Caesar’s time
they watch the sacrifice.
Atonements made on grassy turf
with blood and pain and ice.

And so on this blest holiday
true followers abound.
But church is not the sacred place.
Ford Field is holy ground.

But what of that which matters more
than touchdowns, pads and rings?
Must God be sidelined, sacked or snubbed
for such less noble things?

Can true devotion that we see
this Sunday every year
be matched by what we see in church?
This day’s a somber mirror.