Volume 4, Issue 2, December 1995

ESOTERIC EXPERIENCE

Imagine a visitor from outer space arriving in the city hosting the championship game of the National Football League. What kind of report would be sent back?

There is great excitement in this city today, an excitement that has apparently been building up for weeks. It is focused in a kind of outdoor temple seating more than 30,000 people. In the centre is an open space and at each end a two-branched tree called a goal.

On the field are two groups of athletes representing, apparently, the forces of light and darkness, of good and evil. They battle, almost to the death, for possession of a small, elliptical object called a football.

At the end of the contest, the victorious gladiators join in a great celebration which centres round a large chalice, called the Grey Cup, which is filled with champagne and from which each drinks deeply. Some worshippers at this festival have been so overcome with excitement and anticipation that they became unconscious before the contest began.

It is difficult to understand the significance of this festival and therefore impossible to share the excitement, but for many people it apparently has profound meaning.

Advent in the Christian tradition is a time of decision. It is a way of looking at the world and of choosing what our role will be in relation to the world.

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"Religion NOW" is published in limited edition by the Rev. Ross E. Readhead, B.A., B.D., Certificate of Corrections, McMaster University, in the interest of furthering knowledge and participation in religion. Dialogue is invited and welcomed.