Green Fields of the Mind

 Romans 12:2 “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Since its inception, the NFL has played its games on Sundays, and we take that for granted now.  Sunday afternoons, for many millions in this country, are dedicated to watching football.  In the Super Bowl era, those numbers have continued to climb, as the NFL has grown in popularity.  Over the last two decades, the NFL has started to play more and more games in Europe, with five there in 2025.  The East Coast start time for these games is usually 9AM.  Sunday morning.  

The NFL has been hosting at least one game on Christmas every year since 2020.  This year it played three games on Christmas Day.  Last year it played two, with Christmas on a Wednesday.  In 2023, it played three on that Monday.  Interestingly, with Christmas 2022 on a Sunday, it also played three games, with 11 games played on Christmas Eve that year.  

Recently, the NFL made this growing practice in Buffalo of baptising your baby as a Bills’ fan into a commercial.  You can see it here on the NFL website:  Baby Mafia || You Better Believe It

Last night, I noticed the 49ers’ jerseys had a little word printed just over their numbers.  Can you read it there?

Faithful.  

Faithful to what?  To who?  

In Matthew 19, Jesus is asked how one obtains eternal life.  He says to keep the commandments, and a very short list out of the 613 from Jewish Scriptures:  “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”  

Nothing about loving God.  Nothing about the Sabbath.  

But of course, the man is not satisfied.  Jesus replies, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

I believe this second response describes the “narrow path” that “not many find”.  We tend to interpret passages like this as hyperbole, or that this was specific to this particular man, who “went away sad, because he had great wealth.”  And perhaps that is right - he was ruled by his possessions.  As to Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, where he says we should pluck out our eye rather than have it lead us to sin, certainly that is hyperbole.  

But one of the aspects of following Jesus that appeals to me is the notion that it is much more than getting through each day without committing murder or adultery.  I can do better today than I did yesterday.  With God’s help.  Through surrender to His Holy Spirit, I can, perhaps, be perfect.  

I can see how much time I have wasted in my life pursuing things of this world, temporary things with no value.  Fantasy sports jumps to mind.  I used to spend untold hours figuring out how my beloved Mets should retool for the next season after their latest failed bid at a World Series title.  The egotism that “I know better than they do”, the slothfulness of sitting idle, wasting the precious gift of time.  And the false hope of sports.  

Here is the beginning and ending of “The Green Fields of the Mind”, an epic essay by Bart Giamatti.  Giamatti: The Green Fields of the Mind

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone. 

I need to think something lasts forever, and it might as well be that state of being that is a game; it might as well be that, in a green field, in the sun.”