NO, TOM BRADY IS NOT THE MESSIAH!

"And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David:  Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest."  (Matthew 21:9)

At the start of this piece I want to make it very clear, "...perfectly clear" as the late President Nixon used to say, that I like Tom Brady very much and I like the New England Patriots very much!  I join with most New Englanders in being happy that they will be playing in another Super Bowl game in just a few days!  This is not an anti-Brady or anti-Patriots piece in any way, shape or form!

But...

I must say I was dumbfounded watching the mid-day press conference a few days ago; I believe it was on Monday.  And, to be more accurate, I've been rather dumbfounded at all the hype and the announcements telling us, "We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news," only to be followed by reports of the Patriots shopping at the Mall of America in suburban Minneapolis and statements and press conferences by Coach Belichick or Tom Brady or other Patriots which go on, (Dare I say it?) "ad infinitum".  A few nights ago viewers of Boston's channel 4 were treated to a lengthy piece about sportscaster Levan Reid going to the Mall of America to get his ear pierced!  Well, I think I'm making my point, but let's get back to the mid-day press conference on Monday.  Pretty much all other news of the day went out the window while reporters asked Tom Brady question after question after question after question, yes "ad infinitum".  Sure, some of them were appropriate questions about football and the upcoming game, and yes, Tom Brady is an amazingly positive and likable guy.  I began to be puzzled, however, when the questions left football entirely and reporters were not only asking Brady about his family and his personal life but about how he copes and decompresses when away from the Patriots, how he quiets himself down and meditates, how he prepares himself to give his all to his wife and kids, specifically what music he likes (after he told the audience that music is very important to him) and other such questions that frankly bordered on the spiritual, mystical, and philosophical.  Honestly, I felt kind of uncomfortable.  Maybe I'm the one with the problem, but I almost felt like I did about the smart-mouthed girl in the 1990s who asked Bill Clinton, "...boxers or briefs?!". 

I've been chewing on this for the past few days.  Again, I like Brady, but it also felt like it does with people who literally worship Elvis Presley; and there not only were people who worshiped Elvis during his life, but there are people who treat Graceland as a shrine and who literally worship Elvis at present.  In all fairness to Elvis Presley, he didn't like that!  At one concert a highly emotional female fan cried out, "You're the king!" Elvis abruptly stopped the concert and bluntly told her, "I'm not the king; Jesus Christ is the King!"

I'm don't know if Brady likes that sort of thing or not, but for his sake, I hope he doesn't.  No, Tom Brady is not the Messiah.  And, in case any of my readers don't know this, "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word, "Mashiah" which means, "The Anointed One".  The title "Christ" a transliteration from the Greek, means the same thing.  Jesus Christ is the Messiah who rode into Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday almost two thousand years ago.  And, incidentally, that word "hosanna" that the crowd yelled literally means, "save now!".


I find it fascinating that so many well-educated people of our day who virtually never crack open a Bible, seldom attend church, and frankly can hardly answer a Biblical question correctly on a show like Jeopardy are ready to sit at Tom Brady's feet and have him pontificate, answering the spiritual and philosophical questions of life!  Monday even felt a little bit like I could have been listening to Tom Brady on Krista Tippett's On Being program on public radio which airs early Sunday mornings.  She usually interviews poets, theologians, writers, and journalists, but after Monday, I'd seriously recommend to Krista Tippett that they book Tom Brady for a program.

Was Tom really ready for all these questions?  Well, he must have said, "you know" seventy-five times over the course of a half hour- maybe more than that.  I'd have to say that if a speaker keeps saying "you know" or "umm" or "ahh"  it may mean they're uncomfortable.

This piece may make people angry and it may get me in some trouble!  But you know it's what I'm thinking!  Come to think of it, I'll close by quoting the words of a female young adult from Bread of Life Church (where I attend) that I heard her happily say one Sunday morning this past autumn:  "Sunday means church - then football!"  Hey, that's fine with me!  Honestly, for me in the fall, Sunday does mean church, then football!  I know most of us will be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday evening.  For so many of you who have spiritual and mystical and theological and philosophical questions and the very human struggles of balancing family and career that so many of us do have- well how about starting your Super Sunday at a church service near you?!