Greetings Dear Reader,
Last evening one of my good friends asked me why the
baseball metaphor was running this series. It was a good question and I will share the
answer with you. I promise not to get
too mathematical.
I think that baseball is the perfect metaphor for following
Christ. Every moment we make a
choice. We choose in the moment whether
we look for Christ and his expression of love for us or not. We choose by our thoughts, words, and actions
if we are going to reflect that love.
Here is an excerpt from my book, Sheetrock
on the Road, that expresses the flow of binary choices that make up baseball:
The pitcher
carefully rotates to get the grip essential to the chosen pitch. Carefully adjusting his footing, he looks in
one more time to get his bearings. The
stretch and delivery can be painfully ponderous or lightning fast. Whether swift or sultry the sphere is
launched and the batter must choose.
Like all of life, he has little time to decide but he must decide to
swing or not. From that single binary choice flow a multitude of linear binary
choices. If he does not swing is it a
ball or a strike? If he swings is it a
hit or a miss? If it is a hit is it fair
or foul? Is it on the ground or in the
air? Is it a fly ball or line
drive? Is it fieldable or out of
reach? Is it a home run?
The time from
pitch to home run is a matter of seconds, and every pitch has that
potential. Each ball thrown could end up
sailing over the fence into the glove or head of a waiting fan. It does not matter which team hits the home
run everyone loves to see it. In every
game, every pitch from every pitcher has the same potential. Whether a curveball, breaking ball, or
fastball the binary choices unfold with the same potential conclusion. Every batter has the chance to reach that
potential, even pitchers.
The point is that
baseball is about potential. From atop
the mound, the pitcher unfolds a potential that reaches the entire world. Every spring the potential released by the
first pitch from every pitcher’s mound emanates the possibility that dreams can
be realized. Every player on the field
started out as a boy in the bleachers.
Each successive pitch is renewed hope for the next hit, the next catch,
the next home run.
Baseball has
changed drastically since I was a boy.
Too often it is about the money.
Grown men are willing to disappoint millions of fans over money. They all need to remember that they are
living a dream that few realize. They
are getting paid well to play a game.
With that privilege comes a great responsibility. The players of today are setting the standards
of fair play for millions of young players who look to them as an example. Every player holds in his glove the hopes of
a coming generation.
This is why
baseball is sacred. From it, I learned
about potential and honest play. My Grandfather
knew there were life lessons in the box seats at Atlanta Stadium and he
diligently passed them along to me with a fair supply of hotdogs and Coca-Cola®. You never boo the opposition as they are
honored combatants in a game to be counted friends again after the final inning. No matter how sure you are that the call is
wrong, you never for any reason mistreat the umpires. The umpire’s judgment is sacred and
final. Even if the call is wrong you
never show disrespect. You always cheer
a great play even if it is accomplished by the other team. You do not leave your empty cup, hot boat, or
popcorn box in the stands. You are nice
to the vendors because they work hard so you can enjoy the game.
The most
important lesson though is on the sacred spot call the pitcher’s mound. Poised there is that most crafty temporary
enemy: the pitcher. He is winding up and
the next pitch is imminent. In a moment
he will hurl the sphere at the imaginary box called the strike zone. The linear binary will unfold even if no one
but the pitcher acts. It will pass too
quickly for the distracted to see. This
is the acutely simple definition of life. Like every pitch, every moment has
new potential but only if we choose to stay in the box, look at what is coming,
take a measured risk, and most importantly - swing.
I must see the binary linear moments as constantly renewed
opportunities to do what is right and good.
As we pitch against time Dear Reader, we must understand that as each
moment passes, we have one less opportunity to make the right choice. We have diminishing chances to choose in the
moment. This is the reason it is so
vital to choose well in every moment.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis Thorn:
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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