The Kansas City Chiefs took quite a Super Bowl thrashing this past Sunday. Not even my Mahomes jersey and my KC Chiefs’ paper plates made a difference. Our San Francisco friends, Howard and Joyce, had driven to our home in Vegas, and they and Dave’s two daughters, Nanette and Nikki, joined us for the game.

Before the festivities began, Dave asked Nikki if she was rooting for the Chiefs.  What kind of a question was that?  Of course she was rooting for the Chiefs!  Our whole family knows what a fan I am, so when she did not answer, I about keeled over.  “What?  Say it isn’t so,” I said.  After all, the Eagles were enemies. Boo, Eagles!

To explain Nikki’s answer, I need to back up a few years to the shooting massacre that happened when Jason Aldean’s country band was performing here in Vegas.  Nikki’s son’s best friend, Quentin, was there with his girlfriend when the shots rang out.  As it became apparent that this was no fireworks show, people ran for their lives or dove to the ground.  Quentin lay on top of his girlfriend, and when the first round of shots stopped, he got to his knees to look for a way to escape.  That’s when he was shot and killed.

Dave and I were visiting Nikki and her family at the time, so we walked through the family’s pain of losing a 19-year-old whom we had known since he was a little boy.  So beloved by the community was he that the high school he attended painted a large “Q” on the mountain nearby.

What does that have to do with the Chiefs’ game?   Nikki explained that Quentin was a huge Philadelphia Eagles’ fan and that after he died, the Eagles found out about his passion for their team and sent memorabilia for the family to help honor their son. Nikki was torn between my love of the Chiefs and Quentin’s love for the Eagles.

Suddenly, my excitement for the Chiefs was not so passionate.  The Eagles were not bad guys.  They had done something that touched Quentin’s family and friends forever, and now they touched mine.

Isn’t that the way life is?  We are adamant about one position/side, but when we hear of a kind gesture from the opposition, our stubbornness mellows. At least it should.

Philippians 4:8 cautions us about our thoughts: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

There is nothing wrong with being a fan, but that loyalty needs to be put into perspective.  The lesson?  If I’m ever swayed to favor one team/idea/position, I need to take time to look at the other side and focus on the merits of both.