The Real Thing
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So much of life is imitation: we eat margarine instead of butter, we fly in
planes that are made of composites instead of aluminum, we wear clothes
made of plastics instead of fiber. They tell us it's because we live in a
modern age. We need to eat healthy, transport ourselves in efficient
machines, and wear clothing that lasts.
But what about the "real thing"? We need to remember how we got here. Not long ago, butter was all we knew...it was the foundation. There's something secure about having metal surround you in an airplane, not a plastic tube flying thorugh the sky. Maybe polyester blends don't wrinkle, but does it have the same feel as pure cotton? Recently I asked a friend at Opportunity Village about their favorite sport. She said, "...I like to do about anything outdoors...and I am not very picky of what I really like to do outdoors. There is a few sports that I like very well. There are some sports that you can do outdoors like football, baseball, golf, softball, basketball... " The key here is outdoors. Somehow it is more real, more fun outdoors. In his book One Size Doesn't Fit All, Madden says: "In my view, football should never be played on artificial turf, or worse, in domed stadiums. Football should be played on God's turf, grass, in the hot sun or in freezing cold, whatever comes up that day. The players should get their uniforms dirty, even a little bloody. They should sweat or they should be hopping around, trying to stay warm. That's football." Let's not forget the "real thing." Enjoy it. |
Jim Holcombe
Marion, IA