Bracktology

March Madness is upon us. This is a one and done college men's basketball tournament in which one team wins all it's games and is the champion. The teams start out placed in brackets. I think there are 68 teams chosen by some committee. There are office betting pools in which many people simply take wild guesses about teams they know little or nothing about. It is a bit like guessing Oscar winners of obscure movies. Some people put more effort into deciding who will win all their games. Such people seek out experts on sports talk shows or do their own background research. Yet the tournament is called March Madness because there are always upsets. The little team can win sometimes. All the study and research cannot eliminate surprise.

It is the same in the spiritual life. Some people don't take it very seriously and put little work into researching prayer. They simply try what feels good at the moment. God can work with this approach. But some people take prayer more seriously. They read about it or listen to people who have some deeper experience in this inner journey. This of course takes more time and effort. And God can always surprise! I try not to treat prayer like I treat my blind guesses of who will beat whom in a basketball matchup. I try and take God more seriously than whether little Ohio will beat mighty Michigan. Ohio will win, no?