Most everyone loves to hear a comeback story and sometimes in your life you get to witness a comeback and it changes the whole way you will tell the story to future generations. This week the St. Louis Cardinals that had been down by 10 and 1/2 games in August, was invited to playoffs as the wild card pick went on to beat the Phillie's and the Brewers then beat out the Texas Rangers for their 11th world series title.
Even if you are not a baseball fan if you watched game 6 when they were down by 2 in the 9th and 10th innings and came forward to tie it and then pull it out with a walk off home run in the 11th you could feel the tension and the magic that was happening on the field. The Cards came back and to watch and listen we now have a story to tell about this awesome game how they came back and went on to win.
Future generations will be told about this and thanks to today's technology we have video of it. We will swap stories about how great it was to see it happening and how awesome we felt as we watched it. A good comeback story resonates with the human soul and it speaks to each person in a different way but also in a common way.
I could not help but think that America's game this week perhaps pointed to hope in 2011 a time when so much seems hopeless, economic conditions keep getting worse, the political climate is volatile and wars and disasters are all around us. I also believe that perhaps that there is a lesson in America's game for America- don't count America out yet - yes we have our issues but we are the greatest nation on earth with the most amazing people in the world within its borders.
I can't help but also think of another hope and another comeback story that happened around 2000 years ago - we find twelve men dejected for their leader had just been killed this man that had called them to love so much and taught them what true peace was had died a tragic death. He was blameless yet took a punishment that killed him. He was innocent and yet hung on a cross with the guilty. These men who had spent close to three years with him had lost hope, were down and dejected and then the 3rd day came and the ultimate comeback story was written in History. He came back from the dead to announce that there is hope and He was it. The day's technology was writing and story telling and those people who witnessed it began to write and tell and today those words are preserved so that all will know who Christ is and what He did.
Comeback stories give us hope, they point to history and make us look at what has been overcome and promise hope in the future with what is to be. I think we love comeback stories because we have a King who promised another return that hasn't happened yet one where He himself returns, one that will be the ultimate comeback story - how do I know this? Through the words and writings of those men who at one point went through three days of loss to witness His return.
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
St. Louis Cardinals and the magic of Baseball, thanks dad.
My first memory of the Cards is of my dad staring at the tv watching this game called baseball I was probably in the 3rd grade, there was excitement and he would always be intently staring at the tube. I asked a question about the what was happening and he began to explain the game of baseball to me. That season there was something special going on "you see that man right there, he is going for a record of stolen bases," my dad explained. At that time I asked why he was having to steal anything and as my dad laughed he clarified what stolen basis were and once I got the meaning I was glued with him to the tv watching to see if Lou Brock would break the record. I celebrated with my dad the day he did it.
That summer our family took a vacation to St. Louis and we went to a series of games where the Cards played the Dodgers at the old Busch Stadium, and dad took us to the baseball hall of fame. I remember seeing the display of a bat being made what it started off to be and then its different stages from a piece of wood to a baseball bat. I remember seeing the past World Series trophy that the Cards had won before. I also remember to this day my dad smiling and enjoying this game.
Baseball, specifically Cardinal baseball will always make me think of my dad because of those times as a kid. The celebration of winning seasons, the disappointing close call seasons but the Cards are a team that are loved by Missouri and many other baseball fans that have adopted them as their team.
The last time the Cardinals won the World Series was in 2006, I am sure that October provided many memories for Cardinals fans. I am positive that the victory was celebrated the world over for the champions of baseball as it is every year. That year was the year I lost my father after a lengthy battle with heart disease, he passed away in August. It was a very difficult time following any sports that year for me and especially Cardinals Baseball - I just remember thinking how awesome it would have been for him to see it that October.
Times had changed baseball had not but the man that introduced me to the game, that explained what a stolen base was and how many outs it took and all of the rest was not here. He was one of the reasons I enjoyed the Cards, he brought me to my first game at Busch, and I will be forever grateful for the times that he spent with me not only explaining baseball but explaining so much more.
Years later I sat with him at the Springfield Cards stadium enjoying the Springfield Cardinals with him and my girls, his three grand daughters. We talked so much more about Baseball during the game as we both watched the girls take in the game, and we both realized that we missed the years we had before. He got to watch as I answered some questions my daughters had and I remember it was a great time, there was plenty of magic on the field in the form of the game, but there was real magic happening in the stands as well. Love you dad - they made it again - will be watching and cheering them on. Go Cards.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Sincerely, How do you end a letter - ???
Letter writing is quickly becoming a lost art. Ask yourself when was the last time a letter was delivered to me from a friend or family member that was handwritten and signed? In today's world we have an email system that will replace that and it makes our trips to the mail box very mundane reserved only for junk mail and bills.
Email is awesome though and it gets our message to our friends instantly however the personal touch can be lost how we end emails can be ttyl, lol, or simply later. I think today we expect we can hear back so quickly that emails almost are more like quick conversations so little is paid to how we end them sometimes. I think many times when you read letters through out history there is an ending that sometimes you never knew how long it would be again before you heard back from that person so endings of letters were not just ttyl.
When I write I love to utilize words and I have favorites, not only do I love words but words have the power to sway an opinion, change a heart, move a soul and save a life. One of my favorite words is sincerely, there are debates about its origins but many believe it is from 2 latin words sine meaning 'without' and cera meaning 'wax'. During the Republic of Rome craftsmen who would either be slaves or foreigners in the Roman Empire and worked with marble would cover imperfections with wax much like wood scratches are covered today. One other use involving wax was that cement workers would sometimes do the same thing utilizing some wax since it was less expensive than cement. When the wax melted bricks would shift and this would have sometimes fatal consequences so the term sine cera meaning genuine without imperfection or without wax came into being.
One of my favorite verses in the bible is also the ending of a letter, it is also a "Sincerely" you don't hear it quoted alot as a favorite because of this. Many times the last verse of Jude is looked over because it is quite simply the ending of a letter but if you take just this verse you can see it is totally without wax:
Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. Jude 1:24
If you read that just as Jude ends his letter it ends the letter with three great promises for us, He is giving all Glory to God because He is 1) able to keep us from falling, 2) will bring us with joy into his presence 3) present us without a single fault.
He is able to keep us from falling, he knows where we are each day whether we are facing temptation or just falling in weakness He is our strength. Through Christ we are able to be in the presence of God, through His son you are able to reach God. Through Christ you are without a single fault for all of our faults all of mine are gone because I have been made whole and washed through His sacrifice, He loves us He sincerely loves us.
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