Super Bowl sundaycreek@midrivers.com Greetings. Because of my experience last year of having the Spirit speak to me during the Super Bowl and for several days following the game, several people have asked me if the Lord was showing me anything about this year's Super Bowl. Honestly, nothing as profound as last year happened, but there is one "type and shadow" that was played out during the weekend that I believe is worth paying attention to. Eugene Robinson is a veteran defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons. The past two years he played in the Super Bowl for the Green Bay Packers so this was his third trip in as many games. Friday night before the game Robinson was honored by the NFL with the Bart Starr Award for excellence in character and moral leadership. He is a player who is widely respected throughout the league and is so displays his Christian faith in good works and leadership that his own teammates call him "The Prophet." Saturday evening about 9 p.m. Robinson was arrested by Miami police for allegedly soliciting oral sex from an undercover Miami policewoman. The arrest sent shock waves through both teams and the media and certainly hurt the Falcons' chances for winning the game Sunday. (In the game, Robinson was the defender who was burned on a pivotal 80-yard touchdown pass from John Elway to Rod Smith.) Immediately after the Falcons' loss, Robinson was interviewed by ESPN's Chris Mortensen who pressed him on the arrest and it's effect on the game. Mortensen asked if Robinson had apologized to his teammates. Robinson looked away from the camera in thought for a brief second, then said strongly: "First of all, I apologized to the Lord. There is a difference between innocence and righteousness. I was not righteous." The answer rocked me. "The Prophet" was saying there was a difference between being innocent, or being "right", and being righteous. Now, I am in no way excusing Eugene Robinson's behaviour, but the facts are not in and a man is innocent until proven guilty. But the point here is that Eugene Robinson is not simply fighting to prove his innocence, he is lamenting his lack of righteousness. I think this is a message the Lord would have us understand: we need to worry less about being "right" and be more concerned with being righteous. We also have to understand that few of us will ever know the temptations that come with fame, power, and fortune. We do not know what it is really like to be a superstar athlete or President of the United States. But, no matter our station in life, we do know that sin is sin and there is forgiveness for confessed sin. Is it without significance that Eugene Robinson's nickname is "The Prophet"? If it has significance what is the Lord trying to speak to the prophetic community about being "right" as compared to being "righteous"? Eugene Robinson's number is 41. Four plus one equals five, the number of grace. Grace abounds where sin has transgressed and mercy triumphs over judgment.