Did you all see that game the other night?
Top of the 12th, and the Royals just went nuts. Their bats were on fire. They were running for their lives. And this entire city held it’s breath.

We wanted this. You could see it in the players’ eyes. You could feel it in the air. The whole city turned blue. Royals flags flew on the lawn of the courthouse. Businesses offered discounts to folks in Royals gear. We wanted this.

But we also needed this. It’s been a tough year on both sides of the state line.  Several kids have been shot and killed.  The most recent one being a 13-month-old, shot in the head, because he wouldn’t stop crying after watching his killer murder his mother and her boyfriend.

In the last couple weeks, we lost two firefighters who were on duty.  The arsonist has now been charged in connection with their deaths.

And our Kansas City Chiefs continue to break our hearts.

We needed this.

And we got it!

Today we celebrated collectively.  The schools shut down.  Businesses relaxed lunchtime scheduled to allow their employees to join the festivities.  Apparently traffic laws were considered as suggestions, as people parked their cars on exit ramps and grassy knolls in order to get to the parade.

It was amazing!

But it left me wondering, if we can collectively shut down a city to celebrate, why can’t we raise up enough people in this city to solve any one of our cities major problems?  Homelessness, crime, and education are all things that need our attention.  It’d be awesome to put together a championship team to address those problems.   I cheered hard for the Royals, but I’d cheer even louder for that team.

Mana Radford