A Neighborhood Celebrates

I don't know what you were up to Tuesday night, but Boston was watching the NBA finals.  As most people know, our town has seen more than its share of championship games in the last few years.  It is awesome every time.  The bars, restaurants, and streets overflow with people who are anxiously waiting to hug, chest bump, and high-five total strangers after the game.  Tuesday was not the first time I have been a part of that, but it was by far the best.  

After the game ended there was what sounded like one hour-long unified shout throughout Dorchester.  People were still honking their horns at 1:30am.  Obviously, there was a lot of partying.  Melissa and I watched the game near Faneuil hall, and as we left, we passed by a group of police officers putting on their riot gear.  Moments later, thousands of elated fans flooded into the streets.  On Boylston, people got a little rowdy and threw street signs through the windows of several businesses, and I'm sure more than a few people had to post bail in the wee hours of the morning.  Nevertheless, it was an amazing scene.  Melissa had mixed feelings about the way people had gotten so excited over something as simple as a basketball game, but I thought the event had a silver lining for our church.  

Sports teams (at least winning teams) have a great ability to bring people together.  Folks who have nothing in common readily sit together, hug, and cheer together when they feel passionately about the same team.  In Boston, this is more pronounced than most cities in America, and I think it is because the people genuinely want to come together.  The problem is, sporting events are temporary, and on some level artificially produced.  What brings people together on a Tuesday night cannot hold them together on a Wednesday morning.  The memories produced by the great games, however, resonate in our minds as something special, something good.  

The people of Boston have some great cultural, racial, and economic divisions between them, but the are not impassible.  The NBA had advertising dollars and an entertaining product to help break down those barriers; We have a living God.  The people here, myself included, want something to bring lasting unity to our broken city.  Thankfully, the gospel is more powerful than the finals.