The Good Guys...

My oldest son really got into Major League Baseball’s post season this year. He would ask almost every day if the Rangers were going to play that day. He got into showing his claw and antlers. He was almost giddy when they would make a good play, and he would be almost in tears when their opponents made a good play.

There were several times he would run around the room saying “We’re gonna beat those Yankees (or Giants)…” It took him a few moments to understand and realize that there were people out there that were not cheering for the Rangers; they preferred to cheer for the other team. We had to remind him of this a few times when he asked “why are those people cheering for the Giants (or Yankees)?” In his little world, the Rangers are the good guys and their opponents are the bad guys. He could not understand why anyone would want to cheer for the bad guys. Too often, we lump those people who root for different teams, or live in a certain part of our community, etc. as the “good guys” or “bad guys.”

Who the good guys or bad guys are is sometimes a matter of geography, sometimes a matter of perspective, sometimes a matter of time. On Friday nights the “bad guys” are the people sitting in the bleachers on the other side of the field. But on Saturday afternoons we may be sitting next to them cheering on our College team, or on Sunday cheering on our professional team.

Being a “good guy” or a “bad guy” does not depend on what team we root for, or where we do our shopping, or who we voted for. Being a “good guy” or a “bad guy” is determined by our actions. Do we help to make our community a better place, or do we help to keep it segmented? Are we selfish with our time or do we freely give it to those who need it? Do we seek to help those in need or do we assume someone else will offer help?

I may not like the New York Yankees, the New England Patriots, the Los Angeles Lakers, the UT Longhorns, the TAMU Aggies, etc. Yet there are those in my life and in our community that do. Instead of labeling these people as good or bad, can we label them as co-laborers as we work together to make our community something more than it is?