Hoosiers

At the end of the movie Hoosiers, when the small farm-town Indiana high school team beats the big city school for the 1952 state championship, a chill runs up the back of my neck. It happens every time, and it feels wonderful. If you have never seen it, let me tell you why it’s so wonderful when the team from Hickory wins, and by the way, I don’t think it spoils the movie for you to know the ending. What makes the end so great is that by this point in the movie, you have come to care about this small town. You know how the coach was given a second chance after a career ruined by some awful choices. You know how the star player has overcome great losses in his life. You know the townspeople who have had their fights with each other and with the coach, but who are there at the big game together and cheering for all they’ve got.

And you know about one player’s father who can’t be there because he has finally checked himself into a hospital to treat his alcoholism, but who listens to the game on his little radio.

Frankly, the ending isn’t so moving unless you know all their stories. It’s much more than a basketball championship. It’s the celebration for a town full of broken people who thought they had no hope. When the game ends and the music swells, I feel like I’ve had a spiritual experience. And in a way, I have.

There are so many hints of the spirit of God in our lives. There’s a hint of the spirit in the feeling we get in a crowd cheering for our team. There’s a hint in the feeling we get at a concert (an orchestra or a rock band, depending on your preference) when the music envelopes us and makes us feel like we are a part of something bigger. There’s a hint of God’s spirit in a well told story, be it in a movie, novel, television show, or anything that reminds us that love is a powerful force in the world, and that we are connected to causes bigger than ourselves.

I think that all of these experiences should be celebrated, and they should tell us that there is something true about these wonderful, spiritual feelings. We are truly a part of something bigger than ourselves, and ultimately it is not a game, concert, or story. It is God. And just like the end of Hoosiers, God’s church is a celebration for broken people who thought they had no hope.