BATTER UP!

 Back in the 1950's, I don't remember anyone ever mentioning the game of football, in my family. My folks were not college graduates, so they didn't have an alumni connection to any particular college team. And, although my dad, who grew up in Illinois, may have checked Bears scores, I never heard him talk about football.

Baseball was the sport, of choice, in our home. As a teenager, my dad was quite a catcher. He made some money playing Summer ball, and he even snagged a try-out with the Chicago Cubs. They supposedly told him to go home and put on some weight! My dad, you see, resembled a very skinny, young, Frank Sinatra. 

My mom and dad had two children....girls. My dad would have loved to have had a son, with whom to play catch. I tried, really I did. He told me, in pure disgust, "You throw like a girl." Now, how does a young lady respond to that?

Anyway, listening to baseball games, on the radio, was my dad's form of entertainment. It was, I have discovered, the pastime of many men, in mid-century America. My dad sat on the porch on Summer nights, listening to Dizzy Dean, smoking cigarettes and drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon. That's a very vivid and fond memory of my childhood.

So, once again, Spring has come and Americans are still playing and watching baseball. Now, girls play softball and baseball. Fans watch games on their TVs, and they still go to the ball yard. 

There is a sweet simplicity, about the game of baseball. Throw the ball. Hit the ball. Catch the ball. Run to the next base. In the end, you either win, or you don't. Why can't life be more like baseball? 

Dear Lord. Between the beginning of the game of life and the last out, give us the wisdom to play the game fairly and with the grace that You give us. We praise Your Holy Name.