the new purple
Red is the new purple in St. Louis.
I was talking with a friend today about the game tonight. I remarked that one of the delights for me in this particular World Series is that I can’t lose. I am a Michigander who loves St. Louis, I am proud of the Tigers (those little kittens!) while I am happily ensconced in red. My friend glared at me and said, “You live in St. Louis now.” After I smiled as innocently as I could, she was still glaring as she said, “Do you even watch the game?” Ouch. St. Louis-ans are loyal to the red.
For a few brief hours those who cherish life by fighting abortion and those who cherish life by protecting stem cell research all don the same color and cram into the same Metro stations. If Michael J. Foxx and Kurt Warner both lived in St. Louis, they would both be watching the game tonight. Veterans for Peace and the VFW folks look the same in their Cardinal regalia. In this amazing city, this amazing week, even the boundaries of faith erode as Christians, Muslims, and Jews all raise hands together to cheer for our team. For a few brief hours we are all cheering for the same team, we are purple in our red.
Purple is the color of hope. Although we may not agree about when life begins or how it ought end, I think all of us would agree that all of the children in our city deserve adequate food, shelter, healthcare, and education. If we can don the same color to cheer for some adult men running around the grass with bats and balls, we should certainly be able to gather ourselves around the children that live between us and the stadium. As we watch this strange coalescing of civic pride in service to a greater calling, I am reminded that we have a choice about what unites us. We can come together for a common goal as we have this week, or we can make strange bedfellows in pursuit of a common enemy. Our new purple is a choice for the common good.
And I wonder about the possibility of purple in this last week of campaigning. What would happen if this election was not about what divides and frightens us, but about the values that we share? This week is filled with laughter and friendship in our fair city, purple is a color joy. What would it be like to share this common commitment and joy as we worked together on roads, and schools, and healthcare? Win or lose, we are winners for having spent the week together being purple in our red. Is it too much to hope that we could continue the winning streak into the first week of November, appealing to the common good and cherishing the life abundant in our midst?
I like the new purple. Though I still smile when I see my home team, my heart is at Bush Stadium this week with the people in red.
See you on Sunday – in purple (or is it red?)!
Katy
