Grace, mercy and the Super Bowl
Some of us have just watched the Kansas City Chiefs pull out a win over the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl. I could not believe my sister-in-law — who is not a football fan but joined us because it was also a family birthday — decided to pack up her dog Hazel and head home when the game was in overtime! Who does that?
I learned things in this year's game about myself that I already knew, but learned them deeper. One is I get tired of the same team being too good so that they pull out wins consistently and the “glory” doesn't get spread around. Why is that? What's wrong with the best team — at least at that moment — winning?
The answer is nothing. It is my problem, not theirs. I like others to do well, especially teams who have fallen off the playoffs map. Or been there but keep getting detoured. Or who have reached the championship, and lost.
Something else I learned is I actually resent the team who wins too often. I don't want to see their faces, I don't want to see their colors, I don't want to see their logo. I mentally penalize them for their victory. Though they also have trained hard and have done nothing wrong — except win.
Then my resentment sinks to vindictiveness. Someone needs to knock them off the trophy platform. It wouldn't hurt them to taste defeat, to wear the loser's shoes. Aren't they looking kind of smirky?
This is not a pretty picture of my thinking process. And if I do it in sports, does it happen in other areas? Jealousies, judgments, justice my way — all in the name of defending my status — or that of someone I happen to think is worthy. Do I go into lockdown on appreciating the successes of others.
Our pastor said something I will not forget when he honed in on the hypocrisy going on in that Old Testament book with the choppy name (Habbakuk). We've all read it, right? He said, “God did not intend the Bible as a book by which to judge others — but a mirror to see ourselves.”
That mirror fakes nothing. Its truth is “sharper than a two-edged sword.” I wouldn't even look if I didn't know there is also a path to grace and mercy — and a supreme value I have in my Creator's eyes.
Right on Super Bowl's heels comes Valentine's Day. Spread the love. How ironic to my present state of mind. And there it is another thing I learned. There are many times I am much more likely to judge than to love. I don't personally know a single individual on the Chiefs team, yet I'm antagonistic — just because they won — again; as well as toward people I do know.
Where is the grace and mercy — the value — that I myself have found in that biblical mirror? When am I going to learn that as part of the human race yes, there are wins and losses but we are all on the same team.