I’m often amazed that people are so passionate about professional sports. I mean what’s the consequence? Does it really matter whether “your” team wins or loses? It’s crazy that people shell out huge sums of money and time for something that has no direct consequence to them. But they do, and it seems like more and more every year.

I think I finally realized what I was missing. I was looking in the wrong spot – I was looking for consequences of material value. Professional sports are not inconsequential. In fact they are incredibly consequential. They provide what most of us desire most – TOGETHERNESS.

Professional sports provides a “cosmic togetherness.” They provide a goal that we share with others – many of whom we don’t know. They allow us for a brief period of time to become larger than ourselves – To lose our singular identity and merge into something larger.

We search long and hard for togetherness in relationships that come and go, but often our true “rock” of togetherness is found somewhere else – professional sports.

Timothy Velner is a husband, father, attorney and author living in Minneapolis. You can follow his daily blog – a series of discussions between the worry-self and the present-self at – thespiritualgym.me