Back in May, LeBron James came barreling down the court and nearly wrecked our Mother’s Day photo. It didn’t matter that he was five miles away at the United Center.
After the Cleveland Cavaliers’ buzzer-beating two-pointer to triumph over our beloved Chicago Bulls, my youngest son, Jacob, 8, was scowling in nearly every family shot. “Why did the Bulls have to lose?
As a Lutheran Christian mom, basketball games have been a way to talk with my children about the problem with believing we must win (or be the best at something) to be valued. We don’t believe that. We believe it’s about God’s enduring, loving grace, rather than our attempts to earn temporary fan-like love. Because of God’s love, we are all winners in the most important way there is.
We would be well-served to remember God’s kind generous inclusion of all of us as family. I don’t know about you, but that’s enough to make me smile.
This message is excerpted from “Winners and losers” by Elizabeth Hunter from the June 1, 2015, blog of the Women of the ELCA.
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