Before I say anything else, I have a confession to make. I am on vacation this week, so this is being written Saturday morning, October 12. The Tigers lost game four to the Guardians, 4-5 on Thursday and this afternoon is the elimination game. When you read this you will know the results, as well as what is happening in the ALCS. However, as I write this, I know neither.
I am thinking about how I was feeling yesterday as I thought about the Tigers losing on Thursday. I have been saying all along, “I have really enjoyed the season, even before August 11. The Tigers have been a fun team to follow – and this incredible run has been the icing on the cake. And then to sweep Houston and play so well against Cleveland – wow! If the season should end now (though I don’t want it to), I would have no complaints.”
Yet here I am feeling blue because the Tigers did not clinch against Cleveland at home on Thursday.
This tells me that I am no different from anyone else I know. We always want a little bit more. I remember an old quote from J.D. Rockefeller. As the richest man in the world he was asked, “How much money is enough?” His answer, “A little bit more.” (No, I have not fact checked this quote). Does my feeling “da blues” on Friday tell me that I have been lying to myself all season long?
No, I don’t think so. Rather, I think it provides me with the opportunity to reflect upon how much I appreciate the blessings of the past. To put it another way, if the season had been lousy I might be feeling relief without remorse … and be 100% ready to move on to whatever is coming next.
Many have been the times when I have offered this perspective to grieving families. I do not believe that it lessens the pain, but I do think it helps take some of their focus off their loss and onto what they have gained through having the loved one in their lives. And that, I believe, is a necessary part of acceptance in the grieving process.
Do you remember those two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus? They are afflicted with a terrible case of “da blues” when they tell a stranger, “Jesus of Nazareth (was) a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people. … We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” (Luke 24.19-21) That stranger (Jesus) then “beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself … and their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. Then they said to each other, ‘Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?’” (Luke 24.27-32) This is a great example of Jesus taking some of their focus off their loss and onto what they had gained through having Jesus in their lives.
And, when you keep reading the Scriptures from Easter and through the story of Pentecost, you find Jesus through his Holy Spirit leading his people beyond the fifth stage of grief (acceptance), through six (hope for the future or “I see light at the end of the tunnel”) to seven (a whole new and wonderful reality). And, of course, what he did for them, he promises to do for us as well, if we will only allow him to be at work in us. I know that, come spring, “da blues” for this season (no matter how or when it ends) will be gone and I will be rooting for the 2025 version of the Tigers. And, much more importantly, when I get “da blues” over much greater losses in my life (and they will come), the promise remains the same.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that life on this earth will always have its fair share of disappointments – some small and some huge. We will grieve over and over again … always wanting just a little bit more. But the good news is that “da blues” are an earthly malady that have no power over the message that “Christ is Risen!” “Da blues” will come and “da blues” will go … but, to quote a favorite hymn of mine, “Jesus is risen and we shall arise. Give God the glory. Alleluia.” (LSB 474) Or, as the disciples of old exclaimed, “The Lord has risen indeed.” (Luke 24.34) Take that “da blues.”
Da Blues!