The veritable truth is that deep inside I'm still the little boy in love with baseball more than any other sport. I can't help it. For those of you who played the game, left the game, and yet still love the game you know exactly what I'm saying. My sermon this coming Sunday includes a snippet of personal history regarding my involvement with the "American game". As a boy, I loved baseball so much that I would go to sleep at night wearing my uniform in anticipation of the next day's game; without a doubt, I knew the statistics of my favorite players, owned the baseball cards of present and future stars (as well as those who never quite became all that we hoped for), and I suffered in palpable agony with every loss of my team as well as jubilant celebration for every win (Giants fans of the early 80's know my pain...almost as well as Cubs fans of any era). To this day, springtime weather instigates an internal flutter of uncontrollable desire to grab a baseball and smell the leathery scent of a well-worn glove. Just writing about baseball during my time of sermon prep caused my heart to stir with undeniable longing to throw a ball, catch a ball, and hit a ball. There are still six inches of snow on the ground. I simply love the game.
In thinking about baseball, I've often pondered why the sport causes such visceral reaction in the ones who truly love the magic of the sport. I know I'm not alone in feeling like I do about baseball...I know that the passionate response I have is common among men, women, girls and boys all across the world. The reality of baseball is that there is deep truth that can be found in the foundations of the game. The most fascinating aspect of baseball is that it revolves around failure. If a batter gets a hit one out of three times than he is a successful hitter and has a bright future. One out of three...that means that for every three at bats he will fail twice and yet be successful. Every hitter starts the season batting 1000 and his average will only decrease from there starting with the first game and steadily moving downward throughout the season. Pitchers, likewise, struggle throughout the year to maintain a mental focus that allows them to continue day to day, even after giving up 12 runs to the same team the last time they met. The mental game is key, shrugging off past failures and focusing on future success. In baseball, it's not fear of success that distracts the everyday game of the average player, it's fear of failure and an inability to move "past the past" and into the hopeful expectation of a better day.
In 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Paul says,
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Paul's writing to the church in Corinth is a visionary statement reminding them that even though things have looked hopeless they can persevere...they can make it. They can be victorious in life not because of their past (anyone who reads 1 Corinthians can see that their past was pretty rough) but because of the future that they can experience in life through faith in Jesus Christ. Paul was the ultimate baseball manager, pep-talking his team to break away from fear of their past failures. Just like in baseball, Paul is saying that there's always another at bat, tomorrow is another chance to try again; you can't give up cause you blew it in the bottom of the ninth last game, but you can hold your head high because there's always tomorrow. There's always another chance to shine and another chance to improve your ERA or boost your batting average.
The reality is that baseball teaches us about life. Baseball teaches us that failure is inevitable but we can always get back up and try again. In the movie Bull Durham, Kevin Costner's philosophical portrayal of aging catcher Crash Davis addressed this truth. At one point in the movie, he is once again lecturing novice, but supremely talented pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, played by Tim Robbins. Crash says, "You gotta be cocky and arrogant, even when you're getting beat. That's the secret. You gotta play this game with fear and arrogance." I don't think that Crash was saying to live your life full of yourself, self-absorbed, thinking higher of yourself and your talents than you should; I think that Crash was really trying to get across that confidence can't be found in past achievements, those moments are gone; he was saying that in the face of failure all that we have today is what is and what will be in the future. Crash's combination of "fear and arrogance" guides us back to the idea of living life acknowledging past mistakes while being willing to continue to get up and try again. Crash is saying that you have to maintain hope even in the midst of the hopeless. Crash Davis and Paul have a lot in common.So this week, live with the confidence that today is a new day...don't rest on past success or a "batting average" that was great two weeks ago. Don't be afraid to embrace your failures; realize that it's in our failures that God can most effectively work. Living in "fear and arrogance" allows us the opportunities to keep going, keep striving, and the realization that there's always another at bat.
I really do love baseball. It's a great game.
No comments:
Post a Comment