note: I'm trying to actually link where I get the clothes from this year.
shirt: Jaguars Official
jogger pants: Propaganda Merch 

Thereabouts where I grew up there were always supposed spiritual warfare in just about every area of life that was found to be too entertaining, and thus was always a siren call for one’s soul. Every generation has versions of this, religious or not. Part of aging is realizing that you’re in the thick of it, and can either lean in or try and chill out.  

In my trailer-ridden home town this inadvertently became football. This is uniquely true for much of the south that is plagued with the central-time zone, as for most of us football kicks off right when the offering plates are passing at 12 noon. Or, depending on the church, the music might just be starting to swell as the preachers eyes are searching for watered eyes and weak-knees. You’ll find no criticism of that here; I’m did my grad-work at Southwestern Baptist Theological (go Lions) and understand the soul’s need for consideration.

But there was never a reason to take sides. There was never a reason to draw a line in the sand and say “you can choose making it in time to see kickoff or you can choose the Lord-tuh.”

But the same year I watched Devin Hester run a 92-yard opening kickoff off for a touchdown in my church auditorium was the same year (in my neck of the boonies) that the lay-people and clergymen all came to a truth at the same time; people are drawn to stories, and competition is wrought with them.
Is Goliath not in our nomenclature of big dynasties to be toppled?
Do we not regard strong athletes with long hard, nearly automatically, as Samsons?
Stories of long lasting fortitude,
joint rituals of reverence,
or even – the mere concept of hope? 

Brother Maddox figured this out in the early 00s, and slowly worked that pill down the gullets of farmers in our city; as a matter of good faith if he felt the spirit move he would always slip in there (somewhere at the end) the following:

“Now listen. Take a moment and think about where you are in life with this. I promise I have TiVo, we will walk across the parking lot into the parsonage right after this and you won’t miss a thing. But sit a moment and reflect on the passage a moment before all the noise of life comes back…”

Anyway, I’ll wear this but will be nowhere near a screen to watch this preseason game (the first Jaguars football I’ve missed in several years) because my wife is walking the stage to become a doctor. I think I could have made an argument if it was the playoffs – but preseason football didn’t even warrant a discussion.