By: The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes

I grew up in the south. In my Texas days, University of Texas (UT) and hook'em horns were Saturday's passion; on Sundays, we watched Coach Landry and Roger Staubach lead "America's team." Later when I moved to Tennessee, we followed a different UT, University of Tennessee, but we called them "Big Orange!" It was hard not to get on board the football craze as a boy of the south. But for me, the Friday night lights have faded.

This fall, I gave up football. I simply can no longer reconcile my passive participation in the gridiron gladiators with following the Prince of Peace. Now I suspect that this is going to really irritate, and potentially offend, many, so I ask you to let me bear witness.

I must begin, or continue, by confession. Over the years, I have cheered on the Bears in Chicago and, more recently, the Chargers here in San Diego. I have celebrated the big hit along with the QB sack. Similarly, I have found myself being entertained by Bruce Willis in "Die Hard" or Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven." But over time, the guns on the screen seemed closer to the ones on the streets. And I found myself having difficulty separating the semi-controlled violence of the football field from the violence of the barroom or the bedroom.

The bottom line -- for me -- is that I cannot implicitly condone an entertainment culture of violence. So my witness is to not participate. Each and every person needs to come to his or her own conclusion. But I wonder, if our movies were Pixar films, like "Toy Story" or "Up," and if our city communities tried to outscore each other in reducing poverty or homelessness, what kind of world would be dawning.

Advent points to the coming of Christ in glory. As we live into Advent and our Lord's coming, how do we become ever more followers of the Prince of Peace? How do we lean into the prayer of our Lord, "thy kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven"? My imperfect witness is to no longer participate in what feels like a culture of violence. 

 What will be your witness?

 

This concludes Bishop Mathes' Four Weeks of Witness. View the other three pieces on the diocesan blog.

 

Blue Christmas Advent Service - Canceled

The Advent service scheduled for Sunday, December 22 at the Episcopal Church Center at 5 p.m. has been canceled.

 

Diocesan Convention Registration

The deadline for regularly-priced registration is Friday, January 23. At that time, the price will increase to $75 for convention and $75 for the gala dinner. Every year, the dinner sells out. Please Register Today.

 

 

The fifth annual Bexley Seabury Leadership Institute at the Kellogg School is a three-day program tailored to meet the distinctive needs of lay and clergy leaders across the church. Join us for lectures, interactive exercises and dialogue with faculty at the Center for Nonprofit Management, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Topics include: leading change, creativity and innovation, leading with vision, values and purpose, team building, organizational communication, conflict resolution and negotiation. Open at added cost to qualified participants for MDiv or DMin academic credit.

June 15 - 17

$1,450

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Weeklong courses in June 2015 include: Congregations in the 21st Century with the Rev. Dwight Zscheile; Community Organizing for Missional Living by Industrial Areas Foundation and the Rev. Suzann Holding; Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God with the Rev. Dr. John Dally and Non-profit Management and Leadership with the Rev. Dr. Roger Ferlo and the Rev. Suzann Holding.

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