Every year, around November, I tell myself I wont get sucked in again but by April it happens, I get baseball fever. I often wonder why so many have this love affair with sports. We love the competition, the challenge, the success, the fame and the almost super human ability of these superior athletes. But aside from something to do for a few months a year, something to pass the time, does this fascination have much of a positive impact on our lives?

As much as I will beat myself up or scratch my head at our fascination with professional sports I think there are some positive lessons we can learn from this weird relationship. Sports teach us about hope. I am a big Minnesota Twins fan and that in itself brings with it some pain. The Twins are in a small market, they dont have the revenue of a team like the Yankees or the Red Sox and when they are up against teams like these it looks a little like David Vs. Goliath. Even though my team has been swept out of the playoffs by the Yankees more times than my son has years, every year I am filled with the hope and excitement that this could be the year.

Sports help us find community. A few months back I was in Home Depot and I saw a guy wearing a Twins jacket. This is a bond that is almost supernatural. We began talking about the team, sharing our hopes for the coming season and our disappointments from years past. Perfect strangers can find instant community through this bond.

Our faith should have the same impact on our lives. At the core of our faith is hope. As we draw closer to Holy Week, Good Friday and Easter at the root of this journey is hope. Our faith gives us community. Although I am consistently grieved by the lack of community in churches, grieved almost daily, our faith helps us find community with a strength that is rarely matched. Faith is the "super-glue" that holds us together if we allow it to. Instead of looking for a reason to divide let's look for a reason to unite found in the power of the Gospel.

See you in church, Chris