good morning Hickey ever I've been to
South Bend Indiana well you're about to
let's go I've been thinking a lot about
what we love and how we love it partly
because those loves give us communities
and I feel like we need communities
bound by enthusiasms more than ever to
combat what vonnegut called the terrible
disease of loneliness traffic was
terrible by the way but Alice and I were
able to amuse ourselves by singing the
genie wine album song for two straight
hours did it
do-do-do-do-do-do great we were on our
way to see reigning European champions
Liverpool Football Club play a
pre-season friendly at the University of
Notre Dame and you know what I'm just
gonna save you three hours of driving
and go directly to the stadium I don't
have much in common with most Liverpool
supporters we often have different jobs
and political perspectives and religious
backgrounds but because our love is
oriented in the same direction we are
profoundly and deeply together we sing
the same songs and even if we don't know
each other we kind of share a history
I've met Liverpool fans from
Indianapolis to Sierra Leone from
Hollywood to Stockholm and it's always
the same
we remember together we tell each other
where we were in 2005 when Stephen
Girard lifted Liverpool's fifth European
Cup I was in Alabama celebrating my
engagement to Sarah my first novel had
been published six weeks earlier I was
27 and now I guess we will tell each
other where we were in 2019 when Jordan
Henderson lifted the trophy for a good
rule again at the stadium singing with
other Liverpool fans songs that in
cadence and spirit are really hymns
I felt again the great gift that
football has given me it's made me part
of a massive sprawling inclusive US but
of course the risk is that Isis can also
create them as Melinda Gates has written
every Society says it's outsiders are
the problem but the outsiders are not
the problem the urge to create Outsiders
is the problem I find this a very
helpful lens through which to look at
the stuff I love as a religious person
I've seen how my own religious tradition
has
created and demonized Outsiders to
solidify the standing and connectedness
of insiders I've seen the same thing
happen in football and for that matter
in YouTube fandoms and political
ideologies and many other places we have
to be careful about what we love of
course but we also have to be careful
about how we love it so for me I guess
it's not mostly about whether you love a
kpop band or a sports team it's about
whether that love sustains you and
connects you deeply to others and it's
also about whether that love needs to
create Outsiders in order to survive can
you be a Christian without damming those
who aren't can you be a Liverpool fan
without hating Manchester United can the
US survive without of them to fuel it at
halftime Alice and Sarah and I got to
meet Liverpool legends Patrick burger
and Ian Rush and in a moment of
incredible generosity they brought out
the European Cup for us I'm not afraid
to say that I wept I was thinking about
the 14 years between fro fees 14 years
with sera two amazing kids some books a
couple YouTube channels some hard times
a lot of good ones 14 years and
Liverpool was with me the whole time and
as I raised the cuff in imitation of
Jordan Henderson I was overwhelmed with
gratitude for the many us --is that have
loved me up into life I often wonder
what the point of it all is but in that
moment I knew the point the point is to
gather the verb that gave us together
Hank I'll see you on Friday
Alice how old are you six how many times
has Liverpool won the European
Championship yes