The Golden Calf?

This morning I went to Bible Study and then to the racetrack. I'll give you a moment to get past those rather contradictory activities.... and then share a strange vision.

The annual trip to Arlington Park has become a tradition with my "second career" teacher friends. It's a day that starts with noon-time peach daquiries at one friend's home and is followed by lots of catching up, silly betting based on anything but the horse's record, and laughter. Today, one of the first days in recent history that wasn't HOT and HUMID or RAINING (or all three at once), ended with a lovely outdoor meal at a nearby restaurant.

I even won $5.20!!! Of course, to do that I spent $20 on bets and $4 (senior day!) on admission.
Consider it my donation to legalized gambling.

Unbeknown to us, today was Blackhawks day at Arlington Park. For those of you who have been in a cave for the past two months, you may not be aware that the Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup is a VERY big deal in Chicago. Several Hawk players were signing autographs and people were lined up for hours to get a signature. We were among the few people not wearing the requisite red tee-shirts.

Between the 6th and 7th race, there was a sudden commotion. The Blackhawk victory song began playing very loudly and people were gathering in the center of the stands. The standing area at track level was totally jammed with people in red. We moved to join the crowds.

Off to the right we saw two police cars moving slowly around the track, protecting a flatbed truck between them. On the truck were the Blackhawk's manager, several players and THE STANLEY CUP!

The crowd went wild. Everyone was screaming, taking pictures and crowding as close as they could. The players and manager got off the truck, held THE STANLEY CUP up high in the air and we heard an interview with the manager. Then the players holding the trophy moved toward the crowd and people began jumping up and down and screaming as some of them actually got to TOUCH THE STANLEY CUP!

And what image suddenly danced into my head? The people worshiping the Golden Calf at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

In my brain, the folks jumping up and down were dressed in 4,000 B.C. robes. The shining silver cup became a golden statue. The manager became the leader of the people who got impatient waiting for Moses to come down from the mountain.

To say it was a bizarre vision is putting it mildly!

Now, it's well known that I'm totally not into professional sports, but I'm not such a curmudgeon
that I don't think it's cool when one of Chicago's teams actually wins a championship. I've even been known to watch a televised game or two when a team is winning. I totally get wanting to meet a player, wanting to get an autograph, and cheering for the winning team members.

What I just couldn't get my head around today, however, was "worshiping" this huge silver cup.

Which brings me back to Bible Study. Seems Paul, in Acts, had to deal with various people worshiping various idols back in the early years A.D.

Golden Calf. Silver Cup. Hmmmmmmmm.