Life and Ice

This is not theology so much as it is just appreciating something about the life God has given me. Maybe it is theology in that way. I was playing hockey on monday night as I usually do with the guys from church. It was really cool because my good friend Rob Wiebe was playing too. He hadn't played in years and was excited to come out and try his legs. Because of him our wives came to watch and I could feel the adrenalin rushing through me to impress our inflated crowd. We usually don't have a crowd. Extra special was the unique fact that my brother Murray was playing goal for us. Our regular goalie was in Mexico on a holiday (where are the priorities). I called Murray to see if he wanted to play for us, just like the Tim Horton's commercial. He hadn't played in 15 years and is presently 50 years old himself. I was worried he might die of a heart attack, but hey, why not die doing what you love?

What I really enjoyed that night will sound strange compared to all these good things I just mentioned. I loved hearing my skates scrape across the ice. When the blade would dip down and graze the surface you could hear metal grabbing frozen water. It was so cool. When I first got onto the ice I glided out and literally, yes, glided. Then taking sharp turns to warm up, I felt like I was a superstar. Now I know I am a poor excuse for a hockey player, but so what? It was like I was a different person all suited up. Wearing that armor and skating with the boys brings out the warrior in me. That Eldridge guy who wrote Wild at Heart would understand this. Men all have a warrior in us and we need to express that wild nature in some form. My expression is hockey and it makes a world of difference between playing it on PS2 and doing it for real. The blades of my skates scraping the ice was a beautiful sound...the sound of power, the sound of battle, the sound of action. I just love hockey. And I believe God created hockey for guys who need to do battle without killing each other. Well some guys. So I praise God for hockey. Nuff said.