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"Cubs Win!" and Other Election Day Thoughts - Pop Culture Espresso Shots

You guys.

The Cubs won the World Series.

Did you ever think that you would see the day? I certainly didn’t! But lo, and behold. Here we are, and the Commissioner’s Trophy has found its home in Wrigleyville.

I’m perfectly ready to die happy.

As I was watching the events of postseason baseball unfold, it continued to dawn on me that there were whole generations of people who hoped for this day and never saw it.

108 years is a long time!

More than a century’s worth of Cubs fans have longed for this day, and many of them died without seeing it become a reality. Even though Cubs fans tend to assume that the Cubs would never, in fact, win the World Series, it was always a nice to imagine Don Zimmer, Dusty Baker, or Lou Piniella holding that trophy high above their heads, but until now, a Cubs manager winning the World Series was just a dream.

We now live in a different world, and it’s all thanks to a 10-inning Game 7.

We now live in a world where veteran losers are the champs.

We now live in a world where curses are broken.

We now live in a world where we are free once more to believe in the impossible.

Generations of Cubs fans have held onto hope that we would see this day, and now it is here, despite the fact that at times (most especially during that Game 7, eighth inning, two-out rally by the Indians) it looked like the curse was still very much a real thing.

We held on. And now we can rejoice that once again the Cubs are champions.

As Christians, I think we could learn a thing or two from Cubs fans.

We have to hold on to hope.

Today is Election Day, and there is a lot of fear and uncertainty going around. We may believe that America stands on the brink of destruction (regardless of the candidate to be chosen). We may believe that every empire has to fall eventually, and this is just the beginning of the end.

Well, I can’t say anything about that. Maybe.

Maybe this is the end for America. I don’t know. I hope not.

But I do know something. It definitely is not the end of God’s Providence.

When I go to bed tonight, and when I wake up on November ninth, God will still be King, regardless of who has been elected President.

The Kingdom is coming. It’s hard to believe. It’s hard to see. When things are so politically uncertain and somewhat frightening, it’s difficult to be like 108 years worth of Cubs fans and to say, “I know this looks bad, but our day will come.”

Millennia of Christians have held to this belief, and they have gone to their graves hoping that they would see Christ’s Kingdom come in glory. They didn’t see it happen in their lives, but it is going to happen one day.

The saints rebuked dangerous leaders, they endured countless tortures, they led lives of prayerful solitude in caves, all because they held onto the hope that Christ had defeated death and was coming back. They longed to see Him face to face.

No matter how scary it gets, no matter how dark the world around us seems, we who are called to be saints must hold fast to Jesus, trusting that He is the King, that He is robed in majesty, and that even if it means waiting for 108 or 108,000 years, He is going to come back and His Kingdom shall have no end.

Years of Christians have held to this belief, trusting that they would see the day when all things would be made right, in which death would be no more.

Cubs fans would make excellent Christians; they’ve already learned how to hope in the face of what seems to be impossibility. But deep down, Cubs fans knew that the Cubs’ day was coming, and we know, too, that the Lord’s day is coming.

We might have to put up with some long days and painful years as we wait and long for Christ to establish His never-ending Kingdom, but one thing is for sure, “It’s Gonna Happen.”

#FlyTheXC #ImWithHim #IMeanJesus

Photo Credit: 

Wrigley: Frank Gruber Flickr via Compfight cc

Martyr's Last Prayer: Wikimedia Commons

Christian is a Young Adult Ministries Coordinator for Y2AM. He is a husband, father, coffee drinker, sandal wearer, podcaster, and CrossFitter. Christian has his first MA from Azusa Pacific University in Marriage and Family Therapy and a second MA in Children, Youth, and Family Ministry from Luther Seminary. Christian and his family live in Phoenix, Arizona.

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