I'm Good!

The Super Bowl actually turned out to be a very interesting game. Often the game is a blow out and pretty boring. I watched the game and the commercials - it is my duty as an American to do so! The Super Bowl has become the single greatest cultural event of American life. I am not sure what this says about us -- probably a sign of the demise of our culture. I watched. I know I should have been reading or visiting the sick or trying to come up with a cure for the common cold, but I just watched the game. This was only my second NFL game to watch this past season - I work on Sundays. I do keep up with the scores simply because if I don't, I am viewed with suspicion and mistrust. I have too many other obstacles in life to let my lack of knowledge about football keep me isolated and viewed as a nerd.

Just a thought about one of my favorite commercials, the Pepsi spot with the bone headed guys who suffer through all kinds of pain and mayhem and seem undaunted, simply saying after each painful mishap, "I'm good."

I grew up in the world that told me to ignore my pain and just say, "I'm good." Life could kick you around, friends could cause you pain, and chaos could rule your life but your response was to ignore it all and say, "I'm good."

I am not a whiner. Never have been. But I do think that people sometimes need to admit honestly, "I'm not good." When you lose your job and someone asks you how you are doing surely it's O.K. to say, "Lousy." When someone you love dies and you are grieving their loss people should not expect that you are going to be "good." I have been listening to people speak about their pain for 30 plus years. A few are whiners, but most are just honest and searching for someone who will respect their pain and be a caring listening. Somehow God uses these meager efforts to bring healing over time.

The commercial was very funny. Living in denial of our pain is not. God's grace can bring healing even when we cannot say "I'm good."

Steve