Our Stories
Dawn
By Aaron Soderlund | posted 03/19/2009
"Let us acknowledge the Lord; Let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear: He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth." Hosea 6:3
You may not have noticed it yet. The news channels touch on it every day, but not for much more than a minute. It is drowned out by talk of the stock market, unemployment, Federal bailout plans, and everything else that is supposedly newsworthy. But just as the sun rises every morning and sets every night, we are at the dawn of yet another 8-month window of time where 25 men will enter our families and be with us nightly, hopefully through the month of October. Yes, my friends... baseball season has arrived.
I just read an article this morning about a man that was injured in the war in Iraq and will forever be in a wheelchair because of it. He had a United States flag that he kept with him while he was there in ‘the hardest time' of his life. He returned home several years ago, injured, discouraged and not the same man. A couple of nights ago he went to a World Baseball Classic baseball game of the United States vs. Puerto Rico. (For those that don't know, the World Baseball Classic is much like the World Cup for soccer, but with baseball, and is happening right now.) The US was not expected to win, so he brought with him his American flag that he had in Iraq to support his country and in hopes of good luck. Through a 9th inning comeback, the United States beat Puerto Rico and moved on to the semi-finals of the WBC. Skipping the details, this man ended up in the clubhouse with the US team after the game and every player on the US team autographed his American flag and listened to him talk about his story. In his words, this flag was with him through the worst time of his life, and after that night, it had now been with him on the best night of his life. He said there is nothing more honorable then representing your country. He did it in Iraq and these players are doing it in the WBC.
For me, as I listen to stories such as this one, I am amazed at how baseball really does impact people's lives. It is often viewed as just a slow-moving game played by over-paid athletes. And to a small degree that is true. But it is a game that is a common thread between generations. On the mantle in my office, I have the baseball gloves of my two grandfathers. One is estimated from 1928 and the other from 1945. And in some way, those gloves connect me to them and the lives they lived. One is a military issue given to my Grandpa Bill while he was at war. And putting that glove on my hand somehow connects me to a part of his life that I didn't get to be a part of. But I can imagine him playing catch with his fellow soldiers helping him get through what was probably one of the most difficult times of his life.
It's a game that is now connecting countries from across the world in the World Baseball Classic. As Creekside sent us down to the Dominican Republic several years ago, baseball was the common language between us Americans and the children at the orphanage we were working at. And now, through the WBC, many countries are learning the game of baseball like never before.
And it's a game that is deeply rooted in our country's history, giving us a pride of country. Baseball is America's game. It might not be the most fast-paced game played, but there are few things that have had more impact on our country and who we are as Americans.
Every March, the sun rises on baseball and it will set again in October. But for these glorious months in between, God is giving us another way of being in community, locally and globally. Another way to be in relationship with our children. Another way for people to put aside differences of politics and religious views and find common ground. Another way to remember our past and thank Him for what He's done. It's more than a game. God is showing us that He loves us.
To respond to this message, email Aaron at aaron@windermere.com.
