Thinking Baseball on a Snowy Day

 

Baseball.  Life is like baseball. 

We may be retired from the game, but we can still remember the excitement of the late inning victory and the pain of a one run loss.   We may be active in coaching or umpiring and assist others to gain knowledge and discipline from the structure imbedded in the contest.  Or we may be an active participant in the game on a regular basis finding new ways to express our ability with a ball, bat and glove. 

At any age, at any level, baseball is a lesson in life.  At first glace, the game appears to be so very easy, and in fact it is possible to gain a fair amount of competence with just a little practice and courage.  And yet as we grow in our achievement we find the game is beyond complex.  We soon find perfection to be a thing strived for and yet not likely to be attained beyond a fleeting moment of our breath in the midst of a lifetime. 

The elements are basic to life: Dirt, Sweat, Wood, Leather, a little Spit.  God used some dirt early in creation.  Noah used some wood to make a boat.  Jesus used some spit to heal a blind man.  The rules are straightforward: Strike or Ball, Out or Safe.  It takes a human judgment to discern the authority, but isn’t that just like life. 

And just as the book telling of our life is not complete until the last chapter has been written, so the game is not over until the last out.

The ballplayers come and go and every season is new and full of promise.  To win the championship is to achieve a relative greatness.  Ahh, but to love the game is to win an even greater reward.   Every summer teams find themselves standing in awe while in the midst of the long line of players before them who played, “just for the love of the game.” 

Remember the feel of the wood in your hands and the crack of the ball as it leaves the yard.  Remember the walk back to the dugout after strike three. 

Remember ice cream for the whole team, win or lose. 

Yeah, baseball is like life, big time.