Soccer Dreams

I've almost reached the end of reading every report on LES. I need to get a life, I know. I could tell you that my main motivation has been to serve the Church, but actually, the main reason is so that I will have some spare time to watch the World Cup, (which begins on Friday). This is only partly a wind-up... Last time I got to watch the World Cup (of soccer, for the uninitiated) I was finishing up my final project for my D.Min at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. So that was pretty bad timing, too. At least England did reasonably well in 2002. As I recall, the US team managed to finish last in their group and left without scoring a single goal. (Which makes it kind of odd that FIFA have ranked them 5th in world for this tournament, but I digress).
I get a strange taste in my mouth, figuratively speaking, when I read that the US Eagles (God bless 'em) have been ranked above teams that are clearly superior, with decades of international experience. Who is covering whose palm with images of dead presidents, and to what end? OK, it's a stretch, but I get the same funny taste when I read the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Constitution. Are there any evangelical overtures to which the ACC is sympathetic? Time after time I have read that the ACC, (or some other GA body - even the Presbyterian Publishing House on a couple of occasions) give its solemn, totally unbiased opinion that such-and-such an overture needed to be disapproved, because it had been written in the wrong color of ink or because the advocate had not been standing on one leg when presenting it to Presbytery. On the other hand, overtures to blow up the Constitution and dance on the scattered remains are treated like gifts from the gods, or should that be goddesses? It gets a little wearing after a while. Other groups, generally those associated with those jolly nice people at the Covenant Network, get advice on how to achieve their desired ends. Those wishing to reaffirm what the Constitution already declares about the sanctity of marriage or the value of actually opening a Bible are told how silly they are, and to go and boil their heads in oil. Sometimes the advice is just muddled. Sometimes it is downright funny (Yes, sure, we will defend marriage by spending quality time with our spouse reading Transforming Families). But there are also times when the advice, according to common sense at least, just seems downright wrong. Read Jim Tony's articles on the Coalition website if you don't believe me, or Rob Gagnon's. Isn't the ACC supposed to be impartial?
Maybe I've just got presbyopia through reading too much on the internet. It probably would have been better if I'd just kept doing my regular job, you know - preaching, teaching, visiting the sick etc. Then, when I got to Birmingham, I'd just be able to follow the helpful advice of those nice people in the ACC. Maybe I'll do that. And maybe Team USA will win the World Cup. Presbuteros