Hockey and Spirituality Have Much in Common
written by Rev. Dr. Scott Paczkowski
“I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
There is a great sentence from the Fredrik Backman novel Beartown. “Hockey is never satisfied being part of your life, it wants to be all of it.” The Swedish fictional town of Beartown finds its identity and worthiness in their hockey. It resonated with me, having spent most of my High School years in Hibbing, MN., up on Minnesota’s Iron Range. Hockey was an institution and a way of life. I was not part of that life because I wasn’t born into it. When a child on the range is 18 months old, they have hockey skates. Little ones on the ice, pushing PVC pipes shaped like walkers, learning to push off and glide until they skate better than they can walk. To be a successful hockey player on the range, you must give your whole self to the endeavor. Even in the summer, you practice slapshots on the tar, waiting impatiently for winter’s return and the blessing of the ice.
The mistake many Christians make is believing our faith is a part of our being. Like the Swedish Beartown hockey players or the Hibbing Blue Jacket team, what we care most about “wants to be all of it.” You’ve heard the phrase, “Our God is a jealous God.” The Biblical writer means that any part of yourself where you omit God creates divine jealousy. You do not want a jealous God on your tail.
If you are an Iron Ranger and dream of playing hockey but only practice occasionally, you will never make a team or live your dream. If you’ve ever skated, you know that the good skaters own the ice. Even an average skater realizes the ice owns them. Just as you cannot experience joy on the ice without giving your life to it, you cannot experience pleasure with God only when you feel like it.
Waiting on God is a full-time, non-stop vocation. You can work and wait on God at the same time. Prayer can occur while making a sale, caring for a child, or mowing the lawn. Waiting and practicing is a strenuous activity. You may not get as sweaty in prayer as you do gliding down the ice at breakneck speed, but your act of prayer, scripture reading, and compassion care is vigorous when done well. Give your whole self to God. Your life will not glide blissfully, but you will find meaning and wholeness. Give your whole self to our jealous God, and watch your life come alive like a hockey player on a smooth, frozen pond on a briskly cold day!
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