It's Over

It's over. Done. Kaput.

On April 2, 2012 March Madness was finished. That Kentucky beat Kansas didn't help. I don't dislike Kentucky, I just like Kansas more. Kansas was the underdog - and Kansas was the school our middle son, Raymond, chose to attend to try for their singular walk-on spot not so many years ago. He made it to the final three. It was Roy Williams last year there and Coach told Ray that he was six inches too short and that he couldn't coach height . . . but that's another story for another time.

March Madness is over. This High School and College basketball season is history. Now there is only the professional golf tour, the Masters, the Olympics and professional baseball to occupy time and space until next Fall when, once again, hope and sanity return in the advent of another basketball season. Until then . . . well, until then the world just has to make do, quietly waiting and counting off the days until the next tip-off which signals the return of normalcy in the universe. It's over. Done. Kaput.

And, if I can feel so about a game, how much more did the disciples feel so about Jesus' ministry as He hung on a cross? They had so believed that Jesus would win, that He would triumph, that the Underdog would prevail against the powers-that-be. They had so enjoyed watching Him interact with those around Him, watching Him make short work of the Pharisee's, Scribe's, and Sadducee's. The disciples were amazed at Jesus' capacity to transform a life which seemed irreparably lost into one which made the standing-room-only capacity crowds roar with wonder. They were in awe of His care for the little one's who came to see Him, for those who had nothing to offer Him other than their love and devotion. The disciples were deeply vested in Jesus' season. So, as it came to an abrupt end and the madness quieted into a distant din, were they they one's who sat on the gym floor weeping? Were they the one's who couldn't talk to the press because their emotions got the best of them? Were they the one's who watched the monitor from the tightly closed locker room as the victor claimed the spoils of war?

We will never know for there is, truly, nothing in this world with which to compare the moment, other than the words, "It's over."

Basketball seasons come and go, but Jesus comes and goes on forever. What we see in these days is the prelude for what is to come, but see it we must. For Easter means little if you don't deeply understand, "It's over." Touch the mourning of these moments, but don't get lost in them. A new season is about to emerge. The Underdog has one last thing to show us just as we think the game is over. Keep your eyes open wide, the Game is now just beginning.