Who Cares?

Sunday the Houston Dynamo beat the New England Revolution to win their second consecutive Major League Soccer championship. Now let me say what 99.99% are thinking, "Who cares?" Probably none of you even knew there was a Major League Soccer league, much less that they had a championship game yesterday. I happened to come across while channel surfing during a football game. I saw it was soccer and kept on going. Only because it was a "by the way" comment during Sunday night's football game did I know the game was as significant as it was.

Neil Diamond has revealed the inspiration behind his number 1 hit Sweet Caroline. By the way, after forty years, it's working its way back up the charts. Who really cares?

A-Rod and the Yankees cut a new deal. He'll probably retire a Yankee. Even for die hard baseball fans, who really cares?

All of the above will make great answers for the 2007 edition of Trivial Pursuit or maybe win you a huge cash prize on the new game show sure to come out soon called Who Cares? . Perhaps the last two items are more noteworthy than the first because despite David Beckham, nobody really cares about soccer in this country unless their kid is playing it.

How many times have you oohed and aaahed over someone else's pictures of their grandchild when you really didn't care? How many times have you listened to someone spill their guts when you really didn't care? How many times has someone bored you with some story they though was just great but you thought, "I don't care!"? How many times have you been that someone?

I'll tell you who cares - good friends. Friends really do want to see all the new pics. Friends really do want to listen to you when you need it. I remember one time showing up unannounced at a friend's house at suppertime just to tell him some insight I had received while reading Ecclesiastes. It was during an especially vulnerable time in my life emotionally and spiritually. When it was over, I was pretty sure he probably thought "Who cares?" but I also know that he really did.

The best place to find friends like that is at church. They'll care about things that nobody else ever would. Friends at church will stick with you through things that no one ever would. At least they should.

God cares too. He may be busy keeping the universe going, but he also cares that your team won the MLS championship, that your favorite song was inspired by a president's daughter, and that someone with an overinflated ego may ruin the chemistry of your favorite baseball team. He cares about other stuff in your life too. While you're giving thanks for the many things in your life, remember he cares about everyone.