February 8, 2011
Super Bowl Sunday
It’s not in the lectionary or listed in Holy Women, Holy Men but Super Bowl Sunday is certainly high among the cultural holidays celebrated in this country. I have a certain amnesia about the game itself. I watch it every year and for the life of me I can’t remember a single one. They all run together.
The ads seem to get more coverage than the teams. My favorite this year was the Volkswagen ad where the little kid dressed as Darth Vader tried to use the Force to inflict pain and power around the house to no avail. That was until his father remotely started the VW letting the five-year-old think it was his own doing. Here’s the ad.
Sunday, we ate pulled pork and chicken wings and drank fancy IPA beers and laughed when Christine Aguilera slaughtered the words to the Star Spangled Banner. Here in Seattle we all cheered when the Steelers went down, still seeking to eke any revenge possible from our Seahawks sorry defeat to them back in 2006.
We joined 111,000,000 people in this little human ritual that was the most watched T.V. program in history. It is mind blowing to try to picture all the individual Super Bowl parties attended by all those people. How much chili was consumed in a single day?
The Super Bowl brings together all the elements of great liturgy. Costuming. Pageantry. Music. Ritual Action. Sacrifice. Closure. The coin toss alone is a magnificent affair on which you can wager a bet in Las Vegas.
What can the church learn from this high holy day of American consumption as we plan our own celebrations? Start the sense of anticipation as early as possible. Build on the past sharing stories about the former events that have brought us to this new day. Stick to a basic format. Use bright colors. And serve good food.