When I was a young fellow I found myself in a real bind. I had started to play organized baseball and games were scheduled on virtually every Sunday, May to September. The problem was that in those days recreational activities of any kind on The Lord's Day were very much frowned on, in fact if you were a practicing Christian it was considered a sin.
The Lord's Day Alliance, formed by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists in 1888 to protect the sacredness of Sunday in Canada, was still a force to be reckoned with in the 1940s and '50s.
I well remember that there was a 12-midnight curfew for Saturday dances and that in some communities with flood-lit playing fields no extra inning of a tied baseball game could start 10 minutes before the bewitching hour of 12:00 a.m. (It actually happened to me in Thorold one Saturday night when I was manager of St. Thomas Empires vying for provincial Intermediate "A" honors in 1969. With the score tied going into the 11th inning, the game was suspended and rescheduled to be played all over again on neutral grounds in Simcoe the following weekend.)
In fact, any public activity that disturbed the peace of a quiet, restful Sunday was frowned on. Sunday evening band concerts on the market square in my hometown were an exception in summer months.
My mother and father were staunch Presbyterians and it was only because of illness that I would miss attending Sunday School and the worship services that followed. At 16 years of age I even became a Sunday School teacher, so my formative years were firmly entrenched in Church and Christian beliefs and practices.
So it was with the half-hearted approval of my mother (my father had passed away) and struggling with pangs of guilt on one hand and a burning passion for the game of baseball on the other, that I began to venture onto the playing field with mixed emotions on Sabbath afternoons; after attending church worship services in the morning, of course. Looking back, I always felt that I did not play my best on Sundays and if I had a bad game, or committed an error in the field, I was convinced that it was a penalty for playing baseball on the biblical "day of rest."
Boy, have times changed in the intervening 70 years. What pained and compromised me as a young athlete, families do not give a second thought today. When you think of Sunday today, one of two things likely come to mind. Perhaps you think of going to church with your family. However, there are other activities that captivate a huge percentage of North Americans -- golf, fishing, hunting, football and baseball, to name only a few of the weekend distractions. In fact, there is a real argument to be made that sports in general are better at bringing people together than church ever was.
It is really not surprising people feel this way. When you go to a football or baseball game, for instance, suddenly you are best friends with tens of thousands of other people in the stadium. These people don’t care about your gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion. All they care about is that you are supporting the same team. It is a bond that can last for life. It sounds silly, but it’s amazing the extent to which mutual support for a team can draw people together. It used to be that way with church attendance.
Today, more people than ever before are choosing not to attend church services. Maybe they simply don’t enjoy it. Possibly too, there are increasing numbers who have never been exposed to religious life as children or others who have not been accepted into a church because of their lifestyle. There are a lot of different lifestyles that certain denominations have trouble with. One of the most common is the refusal to accept members of the Gay community or views on contraception and abortion. Many religions teach that homosexuality, condoms, and abortions are sins, and that can be ostracizing to some. Thankfully, however, there are increasing religious denominations accepting people for who they are.
Watching and playing games on Sunday afternoons can be a great escape. Whether you are watching from home, physically at the game or participating in a recreational activity, it is a wonderful way to forget about the everyday stresses of life, including work, health, and personal relationships. Going to church does not necessarily do that for many current generation individuals.
My mother and father were staunch Presbyterians and it was only because of illness that I would miss attending Sunday School and the worship services that followed. At 16 years of age I even became a Sunday School teacher, so my formative years were firmly entrenched in Church and Christian beliefs and practices.
So it was with the half-hearted approval of my mother (my father had passed away) and struggling with pangs of guilt on one hand and a burning passion for the game of baseball on the other, that I began to venture onto the playing field with mixed emotions on Sabbath afternoons; after attending church worship services in the morning, of course. Looking back, I always felt that I did not play my best on Sundays and if I had a bad game, or committed an error in the field, I was convinced that it was a penalty for playing baseball on the biblical "day of rest."
Boy, have times changed in the intervening 70 years. What pained and compromised me as a young athlete, families do not give a second thought today. When you think of Sunday today, one of two things likely come to mind. Perhaps you think of going to church with your family. However, there are other activities that captivate a huge percentage of North Americans -- golf, fishing, hunting, football and baseball, to name only a few of the weekend distractions. In fact, there is a real argument to be made that sports in general are better at bringing people together than church ever was.
It is really not surprising people feel this way. When you go to a football or baseball game, for instance, suddenly you are best friends with tens of thousands of other people in the stadium. These people don’t care about your gender, sexual orientation, race, or religion. All they care about is that you are supporting the same team. It is a bond that can last for life. It sounds silly, but it’s amazing the extent to which mutual support for a team can draw people together. It used to be that way with church attendance.
Today, more people than ever before are choosing not to attend church services. Maybe they simply don’t enjoy it. Possibly too, there are increasing numbers who have never been exposed to religious life as children or others who have not been accepted into a church because of their lifestyle. There are a lot of different lifestyles that certain denominations have trouble with. One of the most common is the refusal to accept members of the Gay community or views on contraception and abortion. Many religions teach that homosexuality, condoms, and abortions are sins, and that can be ostracizing to some. Thankfully, however, there are increasing religious denominations accepting people for who they are.
Watching and playing games on Sunday afternoons can be a great escape. Whether you are watching from home, physically at the game or participating in a recreational activity, it is a wonderful way to forget about the everyday stresses of life, including work, health, and personal relationships. Going to church does not necessarily do that for many current generation individuals.
Two of the most widely watched television events on Sundays are baseball's World Series and football's Super Bowl. Even those who do not care about sports attend World Series and Super Bowl parties in homes, even if it’s just an excuse to get together with friends.
Companies spend millions of dollars just to get a 30-second commercial that will air during these major sports extraveganzas. In fact, it is now expected that the commercials you see during the game will be the best you see all year. Why do advertisers put so much money and energy into these commercials? Because they know they have a larger audience now than they will at any other time in the year.
Even though churches are left competing with sports for attention on Sundays, they still have a unique and necessary role to play in addressing the world-wide needs of an increasingly desperate society; and for the most part they do it in a very low-key way, unacknowleged by main stream media. There are many people who are committed to their faith, including those who will put their beloved sport on hold to attend a religious service and still get home in time for the game-opening pitch or kick off. And that is a good thing, or an acceptable compromise by today's relaxed standards.
Personally, I do not attend church services anymore, but it has nothing to do with acceptance or a preference for sports...It goes much deeper than that and I might write about it some day, when I'm ready.
In retrospect, I am still in that moral bind of my youth. It has just taken on a different perspective.
In retrospect, I am still in that moral bind of my youth. It has just taken on a different perspective.
Old teachings and morals of formative days die hard! Perhaps that is the way it should be.
2 comments:
Excellent article as always Richard! Definite "food for thought" so thank you Sir! You always make me think and feel.
After our all-too-unnecessary online separation, I am surprised (yet pleased) to hear from you Jeannette. Truthfully, I missed you! I had a brief chat with the Tite's (including Marjorie) at Tim's last week. I will spare you the possibility of "word play"...suffice to say, I wish you well. ~~ Dick
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