The city of Chicago has been waiting a long time for a World Series title. 108 years to be exact. In the midst of wondering during the most exciting baseball game, potentially ever, if the city would be burned down from grief or from complete joy, it has become painfully obvious that something like a World Series title changes everything.
- people came together
- people saw each other
- people were together
I say these things distinctly because there are subtle nuances to each of them. Let’s unpack each of them.
- people came together
- We saw thousands of people unite behind a cause. Sure, it was baseball, so it may not have been something “world changing”, but we saw that humanity has the ability to rally together. We saw this unification not just affect one people group, but nearly everyone. Unity crossed generations, race, and nation lines. People were together in support of both sides of the field. Humanity can rally and stand behind something. With this potential we can rally together and change the world.
- people saw each other
- The thousands of people who were rallied behind this cause did something more than just exist side-by-side. They actually saw each other as humans. As people together in the fight. As mourners, and victors. There was a glimpse at the raw togetherness that we all felt and it was shared. Humanity, for a split second, was not seeking to tear down, but to build up the people they were standing shoulder-to-shoulder with. People were people.
- people were together
- In one of the most racially, economically, and politically divisive times in American history, we saw people stand together. They stood up for what they had hoped in, dreamt of, and poured resources, love, and time into. And they did it together. In a time when it seems like we have more to be angry and untrusting of each other about, we saw people embrace, high-five, and celebrate with reckless abandon. People were together.
So what does all of this mean?
Well, for starters it means that hope binds people together. We saw that in what it looks like to celebrate something 108 years in the making.
It also means that humanity can stand together. That we can set aside the things we perceive as negative and lift up the things in us that matter, and unite us. We just have to come together, see each other, and actually be together.
So, for the sake of world change I’m going to keep singing, cheering, and rallying…
Go cubs go. Go cubs go. Hey Chicago, what do you say? Let’s change the world today.
