Reflections From Sunday Evening

It seems like ages ago that we were watching the KC Royals in the World Series. So much has happened in the past week. Game five was another reminder to never quit. Always anticipate something good happening. (Unless you were a Met) Perseverance pays off. There is always hope. Wow. All the things we seek to impress upon people seemed to play out before our very eyes. Less than 48 hours after the final game everyone who ever thought about going to Kansas City showed up for a parade! What a celebration. Again we witnessed a piece of life. Celebration! Royals players show up on late night tv shows. Sports writers keep writing about the amazing year. Already plans are being made for next season. So even World Champions must prepare for tomorrow. Some men who played on the 2015 team will not be with the team in 2016. There will be others to take their place. The game goes on. I suppose we will be making comparisons between the Royals and life and the spiritual life in particular. Most of those comparisons will be a stretch. But if there is a great spiritual lesson to be found in this past week perhaps it is the hope and possibility of unity. Even people who do not know or care anything about baseball got caught up in the joy. People of all economic situations, faith perspective, ages, gender and any other demographic joined together to support the boys in Blue. Here is a lesson. We who are people of faith believe Jesus Christ is the one who truly unites all people to God. We become one in Christ. Yet we who follow Jesus keep putting up roadblocks and barriers. For some reason we get the idea that our particular views and beliefs are right and all others are wrong. So we split up. We are convinced that our actions reflect the path of Christ and any other is out of bounds. So we divide. We like the way we baptize, communion, structure the church, administer the finances, govern, lead, serve, vision...If you don't do it my way we go our separate ways. But there is hope. Hope in Christ. One day...One day the Holy Spirit will move in amazing ways. One day Jesus will gather His Church together. One day we will be one in Christ. Hey, if the Royals can unite a city Jesus can unite the Church and the world. Something to seek after. Something to pray for. Something to think on. It's been a good day. I hope you've had a great day too. steve