The other day I posted this on my Facebook page. Watching one episode each night of Ken Burn's film..."Baseball" in preparation for the coming season.
I received a couple of interesting comments. One from a much younger than I pastor friend said, Will it prepare you for the eventual disgust and disappointment of the Minnesota (supposedly professional) baseball team? Another, from an old college friend whom I seldom hear from, wrote. Cheer up, you could be a Mariners fan…. maybe this year......
To both of these I replied….
Yes,.. that would be the whole point of watching. The mythic nature of baseball in my life transcends the reality of my present fandom.
I know that not everyone is a baseball fan… I also know that talking about just how good or bad the Twins are going to be this year is not a very pleasant topic for those who are. However, I gotta say something today…
The success or failure of the present team has never been a measure, much less a reason, for anyone to be passionate about baseball. For many of us, baseball opens a door to a depth in our lives that we do not otherwise reach. Some people call this depth in life nothing more than the experience of longing for a time when your life was simpler and perhaps happier. There is some truth in this but for me the real parcel of importance is that word “longing.”
Longing for me doesn’t mean that I’m reaching back to regain or reclaim a moment, but that something is awaiting me in the future… some thing that I have known and am familiar with is also just beyond my present grasp or comprehension. In this way, the mythic nature of baseball is my life; its many stories and characters, the game itself, the experience I’ve had of knowing all kinds of people sharing this passion at different levels, the maybe this year (which was last year for all you Cub fans)…. All this stirs something within me and has always been doorway for me to explore my faith at a much deeper level.
This sense of being stirred at a deeper level, however it happens in your life, is important to pay attention to. Maybe it’s not baseball…maybe it’s the beauty of a piece of art or music…maybe it’s the promise of longer days just ahead of us….maybe it’s the….Whatever it is, pay attention to that longing. I believe it is a doorway… a portal...gateway to other depths of your life where God awaits.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
I received a couple of interesting comments. One from a much younger than I pastor friend said, Will it prepare you for the eventual disgust and disappointment of the Minnesota (supposedly professional) baseball team? Another, from an old college friend whom I seldom hear from, wrote. Cheer up, you could be a Mariners fan…. maybe this year......
To both of these I replied….
Yes,.. that would be the whole point of watching. The mythic nature of baseball in my life transcends the reality of my present fandom.
I know that not everyone is a baseball fan… I also know that talking about just how good or bad the Twins are going to be this year is not a very pleasant topic for those who are. However, I gotta say something today…
The success or failure of the present team has never been a measure, much less a reason, for anyone to be passionate about baseball. For many of us, baseball opens a door to a depth in our lives that we do not otherwise reach. Some people call this depth in life nothing more than the experience of longing for a time when your life was simpler and perhaps happier. There is some truth in this but for me the real parcel of importance is that word “longing.”
Longing for me doesn’t mean that I’m reaching back to regain or reclaim a moment, but that something is awaiting me in the future… some thing that I have known and am familiar with is also just beyond my present grasp or comprehension. In this way, the mythic nature of baseball is my life; its many stories and characters, the game itself, the experience I’ve had of knowing all kinds of people sharing this passion at different levels, the maybe this year (which was last year for all you Cub fans)…. All this stirs something within me and has always been doorway for me to explore my faith at a much deeper level.
This sense of being stirred at a deeper level, however it happens in your life, is important to pay attention to. Maybe it’s not baseball…maybe it’s the beauty of a piece of art or music…maybe it’s the promise of longer days just ahead of us….maybe it’s the….Whatever it is, pay attention to that longing. I believe it is a doorway… a portal...gateway to other depths of your life where God awaits.
Keep the Faith,
Pastor Dan
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