March Madness
Hey, everyone!
Can you believe it's here?! The daffodils are blooming! The sunshine warms the earth! ("…Warmer temperatures will finally return Saturday with highs back up into the middle 60s…")This can only mean one thing!
March Madness!
You know it! The NCAA basketball tourney when we go from the Sixty Four Best to the Sixteen Even Better Than That ("Sweet!"), to the Four Almost the Most Best ("Finally!"), to the Best of the Best!
You know how folks fill out the bracket (it's kind of a flow chart of the schedule of all the games) to predict, game by game, who will beat the other and move on to play other winners 'til we make it to the championship game?
Bet it was looking pretty good yesterday morning!
But who thought UAB could do that?!
I know we might feel confident that our guesses are pretty good but I read the other day that the chances of a person who knows something about the teams, making all the picks that wind up with a "perfect bracket" (when it's all said and done, you picked all the winners) is one in 772 billion! You have a better chance of lining up everyone in the world in a line, picking one person randomly out of that crowd, and have it be, by chance, one of the eight living people who have walked on the moon! Or, you have a better chance of drawing a royal flush in 5-card poker twice in a row! (I'm not sure what that is but the chances are one in 422,162,067,600)
If anyone thinks they could really come up with a perfect bracket with all the winners, that really is "March madness"!
One thing that I was wondering about…
Ever wondered why they rank the teams in "seeds"?
They don't place the teams in groupings, ranks, or preliminary heats, but "seeds" The least awesome teams ("16th seed"…"14th seed"…") play the best teams first ("Number 1 seed"…"number 3 seed")…Why do they call them "seeds"? Sound like they're doing spring planting…
That's it! That's why they call it "seeding"! Turns out the best teams play the worst teams in the different regions at the beginning so that the better teams meet each other later. If the teams were seeds planted in the bracket, it would hopefully bloom 'n blossom into more exciting games later in the month as the winners emerge!
Like "seeds"!
Get it?
It made me think…
Lately, I've been reading the Letter to the Galations and one thing Paul says about our Lord Jesus is that He is the "Seed of Abraham"…Check this…
"The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say 'and to seeds,' meaning many people, but 'and to your seed,' meaning one person, who is Christ…" (3:16)
Later he says, " …we were in slavery under the spiritual forces of the world. But at just the right time, God sent his Son, born of a woman…" (4:4)
Hmmmm…..
It's almost like Jesus was sent from Heaven to earth, God becoming a human baby, and growing and living, dying and rising, "planted" at just the perfect moment in history so that in the end, He wins the victory over all!
I remember hearing 'bout someone who was reading the Book of Revelation and a friend asked, "Wow! That's so complicated with all the visions and prophesies!! Do you know what it all means?"
"Sure! Jesus wins!"
As Corrie Ten Boom always reminded us, "Jesus is Victor!"
I'm not sure how this tournament is going to come out, but no matter what you're facing today, if you puts His Name down as the winner every time, no matter what you're going thru, your chances at a perfect bracket are 100%
That's it for weather and sports!