Well, one of the biggest events of the year has just concluded. What is it you might ask? Could it be a world peace summit? Perhaps a new commitment to the environment? No... it was the opening weekend of the NCAA basketball tournament. Ok, the basketball tournament may not be a world changing kind of event. That still doesn't change the fact that it has been the center of attention in this country for the last four days. People have been watching games on television and the internet. It has been the center of the water cooler talk. And I have to ask, "How is your bracket doing?" That makes sense if your have followed the tournament at all. Yes, I filled one out. I'm doing pretty well.

I hae to say, though, that this first weekend has been somewhat disappointing. Why? It's because there hasn't been any real upsets. In fact, I think there has only been one that really should count. There have been some real close calls, but few pulling it out. Its funny, but its the upsets that make the early part of the tournament so entertaining. People love rooting for the underdog, the cinderella. Around the country, fans in the various arenas would rally around the underdogs. Admit it, if your team wasn't playing, you were likely rooting for the underdogs as well.

So I ask, what does that say about us? What is it about us that loves the underdog story? You might answer that question a number of ways. I think one reason is that often we see ourselves in the underdog. Most of us are not championship athletes. Most of us are good people doing the best that we can. And, I believe that we connect to the underdog because in some ways, it tells us, if they can do it, we can do it. A good underdog story provides hope and inspiration. Now that I think about it, isn't that what we find in Christ?