October 22, 2001
CYBERCOLUMN:
The gospel according to baseball
___By Brett Younger
___It’s the time of year when our minds turn to one of the neglected spiritual disciplines. We recognize prayer, fasting, scripture reading, and meditation throughout the year, but in October our attention turns especially to baseball.
___The spiritual aspects of baseball are undeniable. The goal is to be "safe" (saved) until youcan go "home" (God’s eternal presence).
BRETT YOUNGER
___Watching a baseball game is following the Psalmist’s admonition to "be still." In a world that’s too busy, baseball is counter-cultural--sit, relax and reflect. The mystic Yogi Berra pointed out baseball’s contemplative qualities, "Ninety percent of the game is half mental."
___Unlike other sports, baseball is timeless. No clock counts down the seconds. People who complain that baseball is slow miss the point--dreams are slow; hope is slow; spirituality is slow. The great Yogi puts it, "It ain’t over till it’s over." Some of the elements of the game change (try not to think about the abominations of artificial turf and designated hitters), but baseball itself is eternal.
___Baseball is time set aside to pay attention, so look at the angle of the bat, the ball no bigger than an aspirin traveling as fast as a bullet, and the ballet of the fielders diving. Watch all the back-bending, knee-stretching and torso-revolving that goes on in the on-deck circle. See how stepping into the batter’s box is a ritual unto itself for slow-moving players. Watch how frequently and forcefully ballplayers spit and how involved they are with dirt--rubbing dirt into their gloves, tossing dirt to test the wind and tapping dirt off their spikes with their bat. "You can observe a lot by watching" (Yogi, again).
___As is our tradition in the Lone Star State, we will not be hosting any
___World Series games, but move closer to the television and listen for the crack of wood (the ping of aluminum isn’t the same) and the whack of horsehide hitting leather. Use your imagination, because it’s a spiritual experience to smell the green, green grass that has been seeded, watered, fussed over and coddled, lying there like cashmere, powdered, lotioned and smooth as a pool table.
___Join the choir singing the "Star Spangled Banner" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Hope for stolen bases, double plays, and more knuckleball pitchers, but lean forward only on 3-2 counts.
___ Even so, remember that baseball is also a time for penitence. "We made too many wrong mistakes" (Yogi). Believe the promise of Numbers 15:28, "The priest shall make atonement before the Lord for the one who commits an error." Bartlett Giamatti writes: "Baseball breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops, and leaves you to face the fall alone."
___God speaks to different people through different disciplines. Long ago, I passed the point where the "old" players are younger than I am, but baseball continues to make me feel alive. It’s a sign of hope for me that when life is loud and rushed, there is still baseball. I suppose it’s possible to feel the cool breeze of the Spirit at a basketball game or imagine Jesus at a football game, but neither seems likely to me.
___Jacques Barzun wrote, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." Would it be too much too say, "Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of God had better learn baseball"? Yes, of course it would, but take your soul to a ballgame and give thanks to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Willie, Mickey and the Duke, the God of bread and wine, peanuts and Crackerjack, the God of grace and glory, shoestring catches and curve balls, the God of the baptistery and the pitcher’s mound, and the God of new wineskins and old baseball fans.
___Brett Younger is pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth.
Get printer-friendly version of this story
Send this story to a friend
News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.
Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!
