Book Ende

After scrambling on Thursday to finish my bracket, I spent Friday evening and Saturday afternoon watching NCAA basketball. My take away from Saturday: someone should tell Kentucky and Cincinnati they're not playing football. To balance out my day I went to go see Cinderella. 

The movie was great - I teared up a little when the shoe fit (even though, obviously, I knew it would). While driving home I heard about Villanova's downfall and despite the effects to my bracket, it still made me feel a little bit good to know that the underdog came through. But it made we wonder, why do we like these kind of stories? We don't just like them, we love them. But what if they ended differently? What if Cinderella got to go to the ball, was happy for one night, but nothing changed? What if only top seed teams only ever went to the final four? Would you still like the story? Would the game still capture your heart and imagination in the same way? I doubt it. Why do we like stories of defied expectations? 

"And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you." -Psalm 39:7

The Season of Lent is characterized by change, turning time and time again from darkness to light, from old life to new, from looking backwards at where we’ve been to looking forwards to where we’re being led. We seek to shed habits, addictions, and patterns that promise light and life but bring only darkness and death. These patterns are easy, they're comfortable and familiar and so hard to change. They're curling up on the couch when you know what you really need is to go for a walk, staying isolated when what you really need is to be with others.

"For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." -2 Corinthians 4:6

The Lord is the object toward which we turn, the light toward which we look, and the Spirit that enables us to change.