When I taught Introduction to World Religions to undergraduate students, I began the first class by describing a large crowd of people brought together at a certain time and place, many wearing similar clothes, to participate in common rituals that celebrated heroes conquering villains, the triumph of good over evil.
Then, I would project an image of the football stadium on game day.
Here in North Carolina, the analogy might be to a college basketball court. But you get the idea. For many, sports are religion.
The word “religion” is made of the Latin verb “bind together” — the same lexical root as “ligament” — and the prefix meaning “again.” Religion brings us together, again and again, for a common purpose. It creates a group identity, whether as Christians or Muslims, Tar Heels or Blue Devils. The communal aspect of religion may be visualized as a horizontal axis; that is, people beside you in the pews or stadium.
But for many, there is also a vertical axis, a connection to a Higher Power.
This brings me to Damar Hamlin. After the Buffalo Bills player collapsed to the football field, players from both teams knelt and bowed their heads. A fan scribbled a sign, “Pray for Buffalo #3 Hamlin.” Soon, “Pray for Damar” had lit up social media. Twitter hashtags come and go, yet it did seem that, for a time at least, “prayer without ceasing” was offered for this young man. At this writing, this 24-year-old player has made remarkable improvement against long odds. Some might say miraculous.
By all accounts, Hamlin is family-focused, community-minded and exceedingly generous. For example, he has used his position of influence to raise donations for the underserved children in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
Yet, I know many people, though lacking Hamlin’s athletic prowess, who are as loving to their families and faithful in their community service. Tragically, sometimes good people do not recover. I do not claim to know why.
One could study religion, but prayer remains a mystery. The premise is to beseech an invisible force on behalf of the tangible world; to ask the eternal and immortal to help the temporal and fragile. The vertical axis or transcendent belief is not predictable. There is much of life that is beyond our power to control.
What I know, however, is that the horizontal axis or communal aspect is also powerful. The same week that House Republicans were disgracefully at one another’s throats in the halls of Congress, I saw people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and loyalties come together across our nation to pray for healing. It seemed like everyone was on the same team, rooting for the same outcome.
Amen.
Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church. His newly-published book is a collection of his columns for the Chatham News + Record titled “Hope Matters: Churchless Sermons.”