There's just something about this time of year. No... not the heat... I find that the older I get, the more I could do without the heat. But this time of year is baseball season. And although I don't get caught up in keeping up with my team on a daily basis... I don't even have a favorite team... there's still something about baseball season that stirs something in me.
I can smell new mown grass this time of year, and it's not a big stretch for my mind to wander back in time. When I was a kid, we hadn't even heard of video games or DVDs. There wasn't anything indoors that could compete with a good ball game. In late spring and summer, no phone calls, text messages, or e-mails were sent... didn't have 'em... it was just understood, that after chores were done, you'd gather up any baseballs you might have, regardless of their condition, grab that old bat, the one with the black sticky tape wrapped around the handle, hang your glove on the handlebars of your bike and head for the park.
If you happened to be the first one there, you usually didn't have to wait long before other guys would start showing up. We hardly ever had enough for two full teams, but you didn't need many for a hot game of Scrub or good game of Country Jay. Ahhh, yeah... those were some fun days.
In those days, every kid had their favorite team and their favorite player. Names like Mickey Mantle, Stan (The Man) Musual, Willie Mays, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn, Duke Snyder and others were the players kids used to look up to. Most kids could rattle off their favorite player's latest stats. The Major League was EVERY kid's dream.
But as I got older, something strange happened. Oh, there are still some great players, but what you hear more about these days are arbitration hearings, dope scandals, contract negotiations, trade rumors, and asterisks beside a player's name and statistics because of "the steroid era".
As a kid, to find REAL baseball, we had to look up. Now, as an adult, to find REAL baseball, you have to look down. Forget about the Major Leagues... the Minors... or even collegiate baseball. The farther down, or back you go, the better the game.
High school baseball is good... Pony League is better... Little League is better yet, but for REAL baseball, nothing beats a good T-Ball game. There's something to be said of the pure joy in seeing a group of 5 or 6 year olds playing a T-Ball game. The batter may run to first... and then again... he may head for third! When they hit the ball, every player with a glove takes off ater it. It's great! In every sense, it's great. Not because of the quality of play... but because of the quality of the PLAYERS. It's kids playing a kids' game... and the simpler the better. Parents may spoil the game, but the kids sure don't.
Baseball is a lot like living life as a Christian. It seems to me that we've somehow lost our focus on some of the most important stuff. We get focused on making some phenominal impact in the Kingdom, and we forget the joy of the simplicity of the gospel. We find ourselves trying to be "good enough" to make it in the Majors for God... when God, Himself would rather sit and enjoy a good T-Ball game.
David prayed in the Psalms; Lord, restore unto me the joy of my salvation. Paul wrote in his letter to the Corinthians; "But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ". Instead of attempting to hone our skills for God, we ought to be focusing on the simplicity of God's amazing love toward us. Loving God back, ought not to be such a hard thing as to require the refinement of our spiritual performance.
I think the Rangers are playing on TV tonight... but I believe I'll see if I can't find a hot T-Ball game being played down the street. Hey... It's Just A Thought !!!
Pastor Eddy
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