While we were in California we had the opportunity to go to a Stanford basketball game, and not just any game, but their home game against Cal (their biggest rival in any sport). We won’t dwell on the game, though Stanford (the underdogs) won by 6 points.
My family has had Stanford season tickets since before I was born, so I’ve been brought up to root for Stanford. So naturally I attribute everything honorable and good to Stanford and everything bad and underhanded to Cal. At least that is what a die-hard fan would do.
I don’t know that I am a diehard fan. I almost always want a close game and usually have to catch myself from applau
ding when the other team makes a good play, but I do understand that being a fan can be very consuming (remember I’ve been living in Boston Red Sox country). It is also fun—it feels good to be part of something larger than yourself or your daily life and be able to cheer and moan with a bunch of people of like-mind. We respect loyalty and being a fan is a way to show that.In Africa (and a lot of the world), the most intense loyalty is given to family and ethnic groups. These larger groups provide the individual with stability. There is a group consciousness that looks after each other and the group. In Chad our neighbors thought our team must be related or at least the same people group. It caused so much confusion and they were forced to ask if our black African team members were “nassara” too (their word for white people). They were looking for a reason why we showed so much loyalty to each other.
When we go to the island, as a team we are going to live together for the first weeks. Partially this is a logistic matter since we don’t have separate housing yet, but it is also intentional because we know that our appearance of unity as a team and the loyalty we show to each other is something that will say something to the peop
le there, that there is something beyond blood that unites us.Sidenote: As we were leaving the game, there was a Cal fan with his son. His son innocently asked why his dad didn’t root for Stanford, suggesting in his inflection that it might be better since they won. His dad became exasperated and said, “No, never”, and went on to explain why this was such an impossibility. I don’t know that his young son could really appreciate the explanation.
PRAYERS ANSWERED
We arrived safely back on the east coast last night. We had a great time in California though it went by quicker than we would have liked. Megan finished her final certification project and Tom is close to finishing his. We got our plane tickets to Africa and a generous church offering to help pay for them.
PRAYERS REQUESTED
Grace has come down with a little cough, pray that it clears quickly. We have some family visiting this weekend, pray for good time together even though it is short. We also have some banking difficulties to figure out before we leave, pray that our trips to the bank and phone calls will work out the logistics easily.
