March Madness

In the amazing mix of current events: The Bonus anger at AIG; The Lenten Discipline, The Basketball Madness and The Economic melt down; the reality began to surface that they might all lead to Easter. Rather, that Easter is the message that dominates them all.

While Congress and the public is outraged by the distribution of bonuses to the executives at AIG, there are some in Washington who want to urge us not to waste time looking back, but to focus on how to make the banking, investment, and financial system better. "Let us use our passion for the correcting and restructuring of the system to give it new and better life."

If there is one mantra among coaches of the better teams it is that players must always focus on the "next play." Do not waste time worrying about a missed shot or a bad pass. "My fault" and move on. Focus on the next play ahead, don't waste time feeling bad about the last play. There is another play ahead and you can make it good.

The Economic crisis and the subprime mess has tempted lots of people to want to look back and assign blame and inflict punishment, but there are those others who suggest that this crisis brings us an amazing opportunity to make a whole new world. Now that so much has been cleared away, now is a perfect time to invest in clean, renewable energy, look at the coming possibilities. Now is a great time to lower our expectations and ideas of what is the "good life." Now is a time change the way we do health care. After World War II and Germany had been bombed, they made giant strides ahead because they built new modern production facilities. The economic crisis says don't waste time looking back, look at the new wide open future before you, a new creation awaits.

The Lenten Discipline is the journey towards Easter, and there is tucked inside of that the same lack of passion for looking back and assigning blame or inflicting punishment. Jesus says on the Cross, "Father, forgive them for they don't know what they are doing." Next play. Look ahead. The Resurrection declares that there is a chance for a better outcome. For you and for me, for the world and for humanity there is a chance for a new life, there is a gift of a new possibility, there is the offering of an future that can be better. As the story is told in the Gospels there is little interest in assigning guilt and pointing fingers. Maybe in Acts and some of Paul's letters there begins to be the "blame game." But the message of the good news is that there is a next play. The bad plays, the mistakes, the evil does not have to be focused on. There is no benefit in all that looking back. There is, even in a horrible death, the opportunity for the next play. Welcome it, rejoice in it, and live in it. There is a new life that you can live better.