A FAN OF FANS

Well, the World Cup's a done deal, until 2030. In four years, FIFA will celebrate 100 years of bringing players and people together for the love of country and soccer. I hope I'm still around to watch the USA and Norway move up. Maybe play in the Final. Hope's hard to kill.

Well, it's been fun welcoming and surprising a world of soccer fans. Some seemed surprised to like us, considering some of our politics. It helped that they liked our Mac n Cheese, Ranch Dressing and BBQ. Haaland, Norwegian soccer star, shopped for cowboy boots and hats in Texas. Google the video.

But Sunday meant Church, not just the World Cup Final. So, we celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Christ Church's Chapel. Some returned, like swallows to Capitstrano. The Church lawn, spread with picnic tables for the after church cook-out, looked festive. I imagine some folks jogging or driving by, puzzled over why Church looked like fun.

Meanwhile, we squished together inside the small chapel with the big heart. I hid at the back by faithful Posie, a member long before I showed up. She's a paralympic skier, whose welcoming ways reflect the heart of Jesus.

So, anticipating a HOT and crowded chapel, the planners provided fans. Later I saw they weren't the kind I grew up with in the South. You know, the kind that come from funeral homes. Those fans sat behind hymnals in pew racks. They often depicted pastoral or religious scenes stapled onto popsicle sticks or tongue depressers, depending on your age. On the reverse side, the funeral home touted their distinctives. However, I don't recall ever reading a biblical reference like, "Come unto me...and I'll give you rest."(from Matthew 11:28-30)

Well, I took a seat between Posie, ushering, and Amy, livestreaming the service. Earlier, Tom Skinner, Co-Warden and welcomer, attempted to seat me down front. I whispered in his ear, "Not if you want to live to see tomorrow." Yes, I know it wasn't very "Christian" of me to say, but I've spent much of my life forced to sit front and center, and to behave beyond my natural bent. So, I refused and stayed hidden near Posie. Meanwhile, I watched seven year old Bjorn,who I usually sit near, wrestled to the front with his family.

However, Bjorn spotted me, during communion. So, soon after I returned to my seat, Bjorn escaped his parent's grip, zoomed around and back, to me. Sporting a winner's grin, he unfurled a fancy fan, unlike the ones from the funeral homes.

So I asked, "Where'd you get that?" Wondering who he'd pilphered it from while folks prayed, heads bowed and eyes closed. I'd noticed some older women, wearing hats, obvious fans of fancy fans. Turns out there was a basket of fans, at the entry. I was so intend on threatening Tom, I missed them.

Well, Bjorn shot out and snatched a pink one. Perfect for most grandmothers. But I wondered,"Bjorn, do they have any more green ones like yours?" Well, he raced out, then returned beaming and WHISPERING, "TAKE IT! IT'S FREE!"

And for a moment, it felt like Jesus showed up, grinning through Bjorn, at the back of the Church.

So, I thanked, and hugged Bjorn and received his gift. I'm obviously a fan of fans: Bjorn's fan, World Cup fans, spreading JOY, win or lose, and fans like I grew up with in Southern Baptist Churches. Funeral home fans designed to move air and swat gnats.

But I'm an even bigger fan of Bjorn, Posie, Amy, Tom and the imperfect lot of us at Christ Church. Most of us show up with too much to confess in the time designated for reflection, before we plead guilty in unison, "Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart, we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves."

Well, when I think of what I've done or left undone, I have a hard time liking myself. Yet, God's my number one fan. Yours, too. Like the Apostle Paul wrote,"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?"(Romans 8:31,NLT))

So, maybe it's time we stop benching ourselves, or red carding others (non-soccer fans can look this up). Stop comparing ourselves to others via detrimental stats. Life's a team sport. God's idea, not mine.

And the best place I know to learn how to play fair, share, strengthen our hearts, develop and appreciate the gifts of others on the team isn't a gym or field. It's at Church.

And like Bjorn whispered and Jesus offers, " TAKE IT! IT'S FREE!"

So Come.

The Team needs you, not the bench or couch.

Oh, and you can expect a feast at God's Picnic Table.

Fancy that!