Today's Reading:
Deuteronomy 3-4
Mark 10
I love baseball. I always have. It is the greatest of all games. There is no clock to sound the end of play. You can't simply run the ball into the line a few times a run out the clock. You have to let the other guy have his turn. The game isn't over until you have recorded that 27th out...and when that happens it is pure pandemonium.
And it's season is unlike anything else in sport...6 months long...162 games. Some say it's too long. That it has too many games. But that is where the beauty lies. There is always a game tomorrow. We are such a task oriented society. We like to set goals for ourselves so that we can "think" we have arrived at something. But you never arrive at anything, because just like baseball, there is always another game tomorrow, and you must prepare for it. Their is always another day to live so don't linger upon your success for too long. Never get too high, or too low because the season is a grind. It doesn't take a break...Baseball is like life. You don't have a week to prepare for the next game...it's here before you know it...like the next day of life.
It was once asked of a player by the name of Joe Gordon who played for the New York Yankees by his manager "Hey Joe, what's you batting average?" The player replied "I don't know." "Well then, what's your fielding average?" to which Joe replied "I don't know."
and the manager turned at looked to a man he was standing with and said "That's what I like about (Joe). All he does is come to beat ya." He just came to play...
It's why I love baseball
And it is why I love what is written in Deuteronomy Chapter 4. Moses tells the people to listen to God and follow his commands. By doing this they would see their lives become a shining example to the people around them. That through them others would see the greatness of God. By just living the life God had for them to live.
Then in verse 9 he says something I love so much...a warning. “But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live!" The danger we get into is we think we have arrived at some point in life and we can then relax...but in life (just like baseball) it doesn't rest, and it won't celebrate your victory. It will come at you, just like the next game of an 162 game season, and you have to be ready.
and then a command to pass these on to our children, and their children, and their children, and their.....because it never ends, and you will never arrive...
and least not until life is over.
162 games...it is a beautiful thing. It is what makes the game great because you can't rest. You can't relax, and you don't get to celebrate until the end. No other sport is like it...no other sport is so much like life.
Someday I want to celebrate with my savior, but the season is not over yet and there is work to be done, another game to be played and no time to celebrate...not yet at least.
I wish to end tonight with my favorite poem. Actually it is the only poem I know. It is called "Game Called" by Grantland Rice
Game Called. Across the field of play
the dusk has come, the hour is late.
The fight is done and lost or won,
the player files out through the gate.
The tumult dies, the cheer is hushed,
the stands are bare, the park is still.
But through the night there shines the light,
home beyond the silent hill.
Game Called. Where in the golden light
the bugle rolled the reveille.
The shadows creep where night falls deep,
and taps has called the end of play.
The game is done, the score is in,
the final cheer and jeer have passed.
But in the night, beyond the fight,
the player finds his rest at last.
Game Called. Upon the field of life
the darkness gathers far and wide,
the dream is done, the score is spun
that stands forever in the guide.
Nor victory, nor yet defeat
is chalked against the players name.
But down the roll, the final scroll,
shows only how he played the game.
May we all play the game well...and for Him
