My beloved Billikens dropped a metaphorical C-note on our archrivals the other evening. And I have to admit, it felt a little like heaven.
It’d been years, after all, since we’d even beaten this team … much less, pulverizing them by a 31-point margin. So getting to a hundo – the most points SLU had ever scored against UD in 75 previous meetings – why, that sounded like sweet music indeed.
Sweet music. And incredibly loud music. An ear-splitting volume of joy, bursting forth from thousands of loyal (and long-suffering) fans. You could feel it in your bones: the Good Guys were gonna come out on top for once, in emphatic fashion.
Of course, any decent coach will tell you not to get stuck in the moment. The next game is coming up quickly, and it will start out at 0-0. What you accomplished on Friday evening won’t matter a whit on Tuesday … especially when you hit the road. “Away” games are always a grind.
That’s the reality that began to sink in for me over the past couple of days, as I started to come down from Friday’s Hundo High. Truth is, Friday’s “little piece of heaven” can dissipate quickly if the team loses its focus.
Which is why you need a decent coach, I suppose. It’s just human nature to get worn down by the routine. You need somebody to remind you that joy really only happens when you put in the work. Only when you manage to reach beyond that feeling of “same ol’, same ol’” and commit to believing in something more.
Maybe that’s something like what Jesus has in mind when he sits down to teach in this week’s gospel passage. At first glance, his message kinda feels routine. We’ve heard these words – the beatitudes – so many times before. But that feeling shifted for me this morning when I encountered an alternate translation, one that substituted “Radiant” for “Blessed.”
All of a sudden, this overly familiar passage felt less like a confounding set of bromides … and more like a promise of heavenly joy.
Just imagine: Christ teaching that he wants our spirits to be radiant. Jesus coaching us, to look up and see – the kingdom is at hand! And it belongs not to the old guard, the powerful, the oppressors … but rather, to those who hitch their wagons to Him. To those who are willing to put in the hard work of mercy and comfort and peacemaking and singleness of heart.
None of this happens overnight, of course. It might take years (and many consecutive losses) before order is restored. But we really do want to be there, I think … to hear and feel that sweet music, right down to our bones. “Rejoice and be glad,” Jesus says, “for your reward will be great in heaven.” There’s nothing quite like it, he promises. Not even a Hundo High.
Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.
IHS
With Us Still 