IT'S TOO COLD......FOR CHURCH BUT OKAY TO PLAY FOOTBALL

It's 14F degrees in Springfield, MO.  The skies are hazy, the ground, houses, trees, cars, and anything else outside is covered with a white blanket of fresh snow.  We have as much as nine inches in some areas.  The winds are blowing between 23-30 MPH making the temperature feel like -5F degrees.  It's Sunday so most all of the churches cancelled their services.  No one is whizzing by on the streets as normal.  In fact, the traffic is dead.   In Green Bay, Wisconsin, it is 9F degrees with a wind chill of -5F degrees.  Today, fans and players will gather at Lambeau field to watch an NFL play off game between the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49'ers.  This could be the coldest game ever played in NFL history.  Question:  If it is too cold to go to church in Springfield, why isn't it too cold to play in Green Bay where the forecast states the wind chill temperatures may be like -51F degrees?

When it rains, they postpone a baseball game and cover the field with tarps.  When it rains, tennis matches are cancelled or postponed until the rain stops.  Golfers don't play in the rain.  Why do we sit in the stands and watch football players slug it out in rainy, muddy weather?  Is there something I am missing here?

Life is filled with paradoxes, oxymorons, and hyperboles.  What makes us do the things we do?  What are the motivations for sitting in the stands in freezing weather to watching a game of football?  Is it a love of the game?  Is it loyalty to the teams playing?  I once attended an NFL game on my birthday in St. Louis when the temperature was like the weather in Springfield, Mo today.  I wore so many clothes that I could barely walk.  Even with a heavy blanket, I was freezing.  It took me a couple of days to thaw out.  Why did I do it?  Because the tickets were a gift and the person who bought them did it for my birthday.  Would I do it again?  NO WAY!

Not everyone is like me though.  I am sure glad.  We all do and say things that may seem odd, stupid, or unbelievable to others.  I don't understand why people want to play football in freezing weather or raining weather for that matter.  I don't understand why people want to go turkey hunting or deer hunting.  I am not a gun owner but I am not opposed to owning guns.  I don't like violence yet I enjoy murder mysteries. Explain that one!  I can't.  I am not a sports fan but yet from time to time I watch sports on TV or go to a game.  I do read the sports section in the newspaper but I also pay attention to the opinions page and the front page too.  

We all like to complain about our government and we scoff at the lack of inaction and the stalemates.  We think Nancy Pelosi is crazy for stating that we had to pass the Affordable Care Act so we could see what was in it.  Yet, we are all guilty of the same thing.  We declare that the Bible condemns this or that but we never read it.  We believe that Christmas is the time when Jesus was born.  Once had a church member who told me that it was in the Bible that Jesus was born on December 25.  He is still looking to prove his point.  

Why do we accept some things so easily and scoff at others?  Why do we condemn some things while we do something much worse?  Here are the paradoxes we all have.

Jesus gave us some really good advice.  Be careful how you judge others for you will be judged in the same way.  Quit trying to point out the wrong in others for you should be making the changes in you that need to be made.

If people want to go sit in the freezing cold while the players play on a snow covered field, that is their choice.  If someone wants to own a gun or go hunting for deer, that is their choice.  Life is filled with choices.  May we all learn to walk in the steps of Jesus.....that is what we should be concerned about the most.

Think about it.