God and the Football

God is our father. He is everything a great father should be and more. So much more. This is what I believe. This is what I know. Now, I know there are people who think and say there is no God, or, that even if there's a God, he doesn't care about what happens to us. Of course I disagree. I know for a fact that God is interested in every aspect of our lives, our careers, our family, our health, our sports... Like football for instance. In my country Nigeria we love the game of football almost to a distraction. I remember some time ago, while I was on Eko bridge inside a BRT bus waiting the traffic out, from my vantage point, I could see people playing football on a lawn tennis court. I thought it was hilarious.
I remember thinking to myself that if such a phenomenon as snow falling were ever to occur in Nigeria, rather than Ice skate, we would still set up goal posts on the ice and play football. Such is our passion for the game.
Football games on impromptu fields are a common sight especially on weekends. So, passing a group of boys getting ready to play on my way to church this morning was not noteworthy. I just felt as usual that boys take longer to get into God and the whole church business. However, on my way back from service, the game was in full swing with the boys kicking away. One of them kicked too hard and the ball got to the road. They screamed to get the motorists attention and save their ball. The motorists slowed down and one boy was about to get on the road to retrieve the ball when this black SUV driven by a respectable looking man comes up with children leaning out the window, and bursts the ball with a loud POP.
We all froze. The car although had slowed,  did not stop, the driver just looked around and we made eye contact because I was looking to see this person that was so mean. He continued going at a leisurely pace. Didn't even apologize or acknowledge what he'd done. His windows were wound down and he was obviously coming from a church. We all just stood and stared at the burst ball. You could see the hurt on the boys' faces. As I resumed my walk home, I imagined what those boys must be feeling. How their day was ruined by a heartless man who was coming from church. I imagined them one day saying "those church people are very wicked" and then recount the incident. Recently it has dawned on me that those of us who claim to know God misrepresent him a lot. We make God look like the bad guy.  A friend of mine says anytime she goes to an audition and they pray, she writes the job off, because she knows that at the end of the day, either the producers won't pay or the job will be crap. But they will first of all use the name of God to cover the crimes they intend to commit. It's sad. God is not shady or unjust. He is wise, kind, rich in goodness and mercy, loving. His intrinsic nature is GOOD, so why make him look like a jack ass?
God is the good guy.