As I write this, my beloved Chicago Cubs are piteously languishing at the end (I hope!) of a thirteen game losing streak. Not only is this frightful event of near tragic implications for true baseball lovers everywhere, it is also of overwhelming interest for arm-chair theologians like us.

There is something about a losing streak that all of us can identify with. Each of us have experienced in the course of our lives periods when everything seemed to go awry.

It is difficult enough to maintain a so-called Christian attitude in the best of times. During a losing streak it is well-nigh impossible.

Painful as they are however, losing streaks can be beneficial. They can teach us patience, humility, even good humor. Perhaps more than anything else, losing streaks can provide the opportunity for a new perspective on our way of life.

When everything is going our way and the world seems to be our oyster, it is very easy to isolate ourselves from the many less fortunate than us. It is easy to ignore the neighbor who has lost his job or the acquaintance who has a drinking problem or the stranger who struggles to put food on her table. A losing streak can often show us just how quickly we too can be in those same situations.

There is a sense in which a losing streak is one of the more Christian of activities. As much as some folk would like to deny it, Jesus lived a losing streak. He had no money, no home of his own. His followers were mainly from the bottom end of the social strata. Even those close to him ran away at the very time when they were most needed. And I certainly don’t have to remind you of the circumstances surrounding his arrest, trial and conviction. A losing streak if there ever was one.

Losing streaks are never any fun but they don’t necessarily have to be destructive. Our Lord showed us how we can learn from them. We can learn a new way of seeing the lives of others. We can be liberated from the oppressive compulsion that we all have to succeed. We can be freed up to see others in a new way...with the eyes of Christ.

Now I don’t know if all this would be appreciated by my beloved streaking Cubs but I suspect it will be by their fans.