“Covid March Madness”

Well, the Covid 19 version of “March Madness” is underway. I have to admit that in the past, March Madness  was one of my top enjoyments. If you have a favorite that is doing well, it is really exciting. 

Seton Hall won the National Championship in 1953 and was in the Championship game in 1989 losing by one point. My other favorite team, the St. Louis University Billikens, won it all in 1948. So, being 2 years old the last time the Bills won and 7 years old the last time the “Hall” won….. well, what can I say. Nevertheless I’ve enjoyed watching some great games over the years.

While I’m only partly involved in this years tournament for a lot of reasons, there have been a couple of exciting games that caught my interest. Rutgers is back in the tournament for the first time since 1991…. wow 30 years; they almost made it to the Sweet 16. (Note:The Sweet 16 are the final 16 teams left from the original 64.. a big accomplishment to make it that far.)

How about Oral Roberts University (ORU) getting to the Sweet 16…wow. “Oral Roberts University is a private evangelical university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1963, the university is named after its founder, evangelist Oral Roberts.” It’s really amazing that one man out of the blue was able to found a university that’s been around for almost 60 years… sounds like the Holy Spirit. (Hey, did you know that Kathie Lee Gifford is an alumna of ORU ?) It’s a small miracle that they made it this far in the tournament. The odds of them winning the actual championship are about a zillion to one. If they win, it probably means that the Lord is coming again really soon. 

The projected champion this year is Gonzaga University. They have never won the National Championship but came close a couple of years ago. The number one Gonzaga fan in the world lives next door to us. I’m sure she has several novenas going for the Zags. This could be their year. I’d be happy to see them win.

So, is there any spiritual message to this particular BLOG? Not really, but I’m just happy to have a distraction from all the craziness going on in our country, church, and world. It’s a beautiful sunny 60 degree day out, not a cloud in the sky and we have March madness. So, let’s take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. 

Oh, and let’s not forget about Lent… we still want to grow in our prayer, fasting, and almsgiving…but let’s do it with a smile as we enjoy God’s goodness.