The Bowl: Is there Supe in it?

Yes, it's time again for me to go on my yearly rant. I'm not going to quit. What is approaching on Sunday?  This comes as a challenge to us Americans as the American national religion reaches it's peak.  On Sunday, millions will gather together around a talking box to watch people pummel each other for millions and millions of dollars and eat lots of junk food. Then let's mention the amount of money that goes into the advertising.  Though I refuse to watch any part of the game, or even pay attention to who is playing, I'll admit that I get the urge to YouTube the Budweiser commercial to see what the Clydesdales are doing each year.  Oh, the Super Bowl.  What are we doing?  Why is it that we so willingly support the frivolity of such an event and lifestyle?  One that steals resources that might better be used to feed those who are hungry?

The quote I post on Facebook every year at this time comes from Fr. Mike. 
"Jesus would stand in the [Superbowl] stadium and say, 'How do you justify this?' and the people would kill him."
Every year I receive defensive and angered comments.  How true is this quote?  How do we justify anything about the Superbowl?  The use of money?  The use of time?  The violence that erupts on the field, in the stands, and in the home? (Statistics show that the rate of domestic violence reports skyrockets on Super Bowl Sunday.)

Yet there is a glimmer of hope contradicting the many forms of violence involved in the Super Bowl.  Souper Bowl of Caring Sunday.  This is an ecumenical movement which calls our attention to the needs of the world, calls our attention to the reality that we attempt to escape from by worshipping such gods as American football.  Souper Bowl of Caring is a movement that calls us to actively fight hunger and poverty:

"While Americans turn their attention to the biggest sports event of the year, Super Bowl XLVI, more than a quarter of a million young people are working to transform Super Bowl weekend into the nation’s largest celebration of giving and serving through Souper Bowl of Caring.

During the weeks leading up to the big game, Souper Bowl of Caring youth...collect donations through congregations and schools and donate 100% of their collection to a local charity of their choice. Many will also volunteer at their selected charity the day before the big game."  (Souper Bowl of Caring press release)

As we partake in the festivities of Sunday, February 5, 2012, may we be uncomfortably aware of the injustices, poverty, and hunger in our own communities and around the world and so moved into action of enthusiastic giving and serving.

A Hymn for Souper Bowl Sunday

God, You Give Us Recreation
8.7.8.7 D IN BABILONE (“There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy”)

God, you give us recreation, rest and play when work is through,
Game and sport and celebration, times that challenge and renew.
In the days we spend together, in the feasts that we prepare,
In the times of joy and laughter, may we know your loving care.

Yet, O Lord, we see you crying for the ones who know no rest,
For your children, hungry, dying, for the homeless and oppressed.
May we, as your sons and daughters, share with open heart and hand,
Till your justice flows like waters to the poor throughout the land.

Bless, O Christ, our gifts of caring, for we know without a doubt:
Soup and bread are made for sharing, hands are made for reaching out.
Even in our times of playing, may we keep the vision clear:
Keep us serving, loving, praying, welcoming your kingdom here.

Tune: Dutch Melody arr. by Julius Rontgen (1855-1933)Text: Copyright © 2000 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.  All rights reserved. 
Email:  bcgillette@comcast.net   
Copied from Songs of Grace:  New Hymns for God and Neighbor by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, Upper Room Books, 2009. 
Permission is given for free use of this hymn to churches that support Souper Bowl Sunday. http://www.carolynshymns.com/

Pax.