The Curse has been lifted!

The curse has been lifted!!!

This was the CNN alert I found on my phone after game 7 of the World Series. I am a baseball fan; both of my nephews play baseball. In fact earlier in the evening I was running between fields watching them play. My youngest, Pancake, was hoofing it toward third and did this funky Ninja move to escape being tagged…SAFE!! AND….he hit an in park homerun!!! Yaroooooggaa!! My oldest nephew, H has become quite the pitcher, 6 strike outs!

I was psyched! I wanted to high five everyone; do fist bumps and shoulder bumps. On the way home, I turned the radio up and made a really joyful noise to the Lord, it was okay that He probably had earplugs in…

It was the idea that even though I wasn’t playing, I was so thankful that they were doing so well and I wanted them to know…I was one proud Aunt!

By the time I got home, I was hopeful and filled with anticipation. Maybe, just maybe the Cubs would win it all!! I turned the TV on and they were ahead, I mean really ahead. I just went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and holy Toledo it was tied!!

My heart was beating too fast…and I couldn’t sit still. I got up and moved around the house, piddling…then I turned the sound off and sort of sneaked by the TV to see what was happening.

I got on the computer and pulled up the play by play account of the game. It was still tied and the feed stopped. THEY CAN’T END A WORLD SERIES IN A TIE, what the heck….RAIN DELAY..ughh, are you kidding??

It hit me I was getting up really early the next morning so I jumped in bed, pulled the covers over my head and thought how goofy I was to be so completely engulfed in the contagion of a baseball game.

So as I tried to quiet my mind, I thought of the stories I had read about the Cubs. The last World Series was won in 1908. A 108 year old woman had been a fan for A CENTURY and was confident that she was going to finally witness THE win. The Cubs Chaplain was a baseball player for MSU in his youth and later in life he was asked to be the Cubs Chaplain, he said, “It was while I was on the field — and I had tears in my eyes — that it really became clear that God was saying, ‘This was your dream but now you’re living mine.’ I had this small plan. God wanted me to be a priest and stay in baseball, which has been so humbling.'” Then there was that infamous goat curse…

A little after 1am I picked up my phone and saw the score, 8-7, they won!!! I was so excited for them. I’ve never been to Wrigley field; I doubt that I watched any of their games over the season until the World Series. But, there was that deep seated need to root for the underdog, come on God, let ‘em win. It just felt right that they finally won. Good stuff.

As I was replaying the TV coverage in my head, wow did you see the fans? I mean, they were holding on tightly to each other, their hands clasped in front of their mouths, Dad’s holding their kids, faces in buried in shoulders…and some were praying! This was serious and for a while, nothing else mattered…the focus was forward of what could happen.

On Facebook were pictures of Cubs ball caps, fans in T-shirts, parents and kids at home watching the game together, incredible joy on people’s faces.

What I noticed was a large number of people all praying for the same outcome, for the same team. And then it happened.

We so needed this.

See? We can be united. Even some Cleveland fans commented that it was okay that the Cubs won…not good, but okay, being gracious in defeat, a lesson for us all.

For 7 games we put politics aside and we came together. I liked the way it made me feel. Even though I was anxious, nerve wracked and pacing, it was the possibility that wow, finally after 108 years, this could really happen, and wouldn’t that just be the best thing ever.  Something really really good could happen.

Come Wednesday morning when your team wins, be humble. When your team loses be gracious. How we treat each other is so much more important than a trophy. Remember, you are an example to every child you are around.

Bury the hate. Ask the Father to fill your heart with love and respect and ask Him to fill your mind with possibilities of making a positive difference right here, right now where we live. Then take action.

No matter who is elected, the concerns and needs that we go to bed with on Tuesday night will still be there on Wednesday morning. So take all of that adrenaline, excitement and victory from the game and turn it into good works.

Remember, the curse has been lifted…Jesus won!

In His service, deni