Dallas Cowboys

Most of our friends know that we are avid Cowboy fans. I first started watching the Cowboys during the Tom Landry and Roger Staubach years. Charlotte is now even more loyal a fan that I am. As a teacher she would always wear a Cowboy jersey to school on the day after a Cowboy win. Many of her students started to root for the Cowboys much to the consternation of their parents who were Redskins fans. The sign in the picture was a gift from one of her students. The name Riddell is a happy coincidence. Most of the helmets used in the NFL are made by the Riddell company. Regrettably, there is no connection.

I don't know about the psychology of watching sports. I know that on Sunday during the first quarter the Cowboys seemed inept. I was ready to give up on them. Charlotte said give them time. The last three quarters were dominated by the Cowboys! It was wonderful. Tony Romo seemed to be back in his element. In some ways is seems that when they win, everything else is OK with the universe.

Of course we know that football is just a game. The Cowboys will win a few and lose a few. Will they make the playoffs? Lately they have played well at the beginning of the season and faded at the end. If they don't make the playoffs and go to the Superbowl then perhaps they will next year. It is said that sports are often a metaphor for life. Maybe even a metaphor for our spiritual lives.


Sometimes our spiritual lives are dynamic and other times we are spiritually flat. Sometimes it seems that God is working in a powerful way in our lives and other times we wonder where God is. You get the picture. I am learning that our relationship to the Lord is always dynamic. He is always there, but He is always encouraging us to go deeper, grow further and allow Him to make us fruitful. The problem is that we are human and we just wander off on our own or our ego gets in the way or plain ole sin. That is why Jesus tells us to abide in Him!


I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful....Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

John 15: 1,2, 4