I'm a believer

Game #4 today!

For those who have been living under a rock or who might have just returned from outerspace, the Sens are in the Stanley Cup finals for the first time in 80 years. It is a 'best of 7' series. The Sens trail the series 3-1. This is BAD NEWS in that they cannot lose another game or the Anaheim Mighty Ducks will win the Stanley Cup.

Apart from that meaning we didn't win, it would also mean that a team from California named after a DISNEY film would posses the title of the best Hockey Team in the NHL..... does that seem wrong to anyone else???

It has been a good season, and the post-season has been stellar. We are a city of cautious fans, at the beginning of the playoffs we comforted ourselves with the thought that no matter what, we made it further than the Leafs, then we had the momentum to breeze through the next 2 rounds. With another amazing series won 4 games to 1, we were a city of optimists! We had an unstoppable team, we could almost taste the victory!

Then we lost the first 2 games of Round 4, the tone started to change. Walking around the city in a Sens jersey brought out comments like "At least we made it farther than ever before".

Canadians have this great ability to see both sides of almost any situation..... 30 feet of snow?... well at least we get a day off school... Our candidate didn't get voted in? ..... well at least we know that it can't be any worse than it was before.... OR even ... what you believe is fine for you..but I disagree

I think sometimes this desire to see both sides is a great trait, it makes us peace-keepers, it allows the diversity that we see in our country and it has given us a voice of reason on the world stage. What is doesn't do though is cause us to COMMIT!!

For this series, we are allowed to wear Sen's Jerseys or t-shirts to work on game days. Game 1, the whole building was a sea of Red, everywhere you looked people were right into it. As the series has progressed and we are no longer winning, fewer and fewer people are willing to make a stand for the Sens.

Human nature means that we want to be associated with winners, I totally get that, but what happens when our team isn't winning anymore? It's almost like we don't want to commit for fear of being associated with the team, despite an amazing season. So we hedge our bets and try to keep our hearts safe.

But this is not what we are called to, especially as Christians! We are called to radical faith, faith that would have us commit to lost causes, lost souls, or even lost dreams. We love and serve this God who would leave 99 sheep behind to go and find the 1!! Against all odds, He believes in us.

Do I think that the Sens are going to win? I think that they have an uphill battle that will require more of them than anything they have faced before as a team. I think that they have the talent to do it. Is it realistic to hang my hopes on a win? Not really, the odds are stacked against them in a huge way. Am I going to stop being a fan? Will I feel like the let ME down?? NO WAY!!! They have played 100+ games this season, and they have earned the right to compete for the top prize. They have given this city something to unite us, their play has generated buzz, and lots of dollars for all the industries that are impacted.

All of this, they have done with grace and class.

For that we say... JOB WELL DONE!!! Go get 'em boys!