God's Children
April 30 2022
The players circle,
heads bowed
eyes shut
hands held.
Before the big game
they have gathered to pray,
even the sinners
and non-believers
and those of wavering faith.
Because this is teamwork.
Because this is how it's done.
Because we're human
and need to belong.
Especially the young,
teenage boys and girls
who, more than most
can't bear standing out.
And what harm can there be
in a few pious words
a reassuring ritual?
Even if God doesn't listen.
Or hears
but believes in free will.
The other team has gathered as well.
Everyone wishing
for no one to be injured
for help in doing their best.
But victory?
No one dare,
because greed is a sin,
and winning's unworthy of prayer,
and isn't it the meek
who shall, in the end, inherit?
I look at my feet
and hold my tongue.
An atheist
pretending to pray,
imagining
the deafening chorus
of human voices flooding the world,
rising up to heaven
every second, day-after-day
hoping to be heard.
God's children at play.
Linebackers
making tackles, talking trash,
fans
in face paint and team regalia
picking fights in the stands.
And after each huddle
a halfback scans the crowd
with tightly focused eyes.
The divorced dad
who never showed up
despite all his promises.
I was scanning the articles in the online Atlantic, and this one caught me eye: Let Coach Kennedy Pray. I didn't read it, but assume it has something to with prayer in schools, religious neutrality by the state, and the larger issue of freedom of vs freedom from religion. Didn't need to read, because those four words were more than enough to make me want to riff on the subject and see where it would go.
Once again, I will note that I am not writing autobiography. First of all, I wasn't good enough to play halfback! And second, my parents never divorced. (Didn't come watch me play, either. But then, I never expected that, so there was never any disappointment or disillusion.) . . .Although it's not totally made-up: the atheism is all me!
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