Baseball Moments (10/30/2024)

I never watch baseball. Well, that isn’t exactly accurate. I haven’t watched baseball since I was a teen. I grew up in Waycross, Georgia which was the location for the Milwaukee Braves' Spring camp. My dad would take us out to watch that. He liked the Braves, especially their player Hank Aaron. And then in 1966, when the Milwaukee Braves became the Atlanta Braves, I went to a game at the Fulton County Stadium as part of my participation in a college honors program for high schoolers. And I saw Hank Aaron hit a home run in the bottom of the 9th. I figured it just didn’t get better than that so why watch more.

Then last night, after my husband and I watched a movie together, I was flipping channels and found the world series. And I decided to watch. My husband didn’t realize I understood baseball. He was surprised when I explained to him what the numbers on the screen meant. He wasn’t into the game, so he went to his workshop, and I watched alone. Then, at the end of the 5th inning, there was an announcement that it was “Stand Up to Cancer” Night. And suddenly, every person in the New York Yankee’s home stadium stood up, holding cards with the names of individuals written upon them. Truly, every person in the stadium was holding the name or names of cancer patients, survivors, and those lost to cancer. And as I read the names on the cards as the camera panned the crowds, it came to a player holding a card that simply read “Mom.” And I cried.

Out of the blue, two years after finishing my chemo for cancer, I finally cried. And I really cried. It was like a dam broke. I’m sorta glad my husband doesn’t like baseball and didn’t have to witness it. During my battles with cancer over the years, I always told everyone, “It’s all right until it isn’t; right now, I’m all right.” As a mom of three, grandmother of 8, and wife, I always realized that it was a scary time for those I love. And so, I was “all right.” I never cried. But last night, I cried as I read those names and felt their fear and pain and that of their family members and friends.

I’ve learned a great deal about life and courage from baseball. Who knew? My dad taught me that life requires courage and more than once he pointed to Hank Aaron as a model. That summer during the height of the civil rights movement, I was blessed to watch a man of courage in action. And last night I was reminded again that life takes courage as I watched members of thousands of families honor their loved ones fighting against the indiscriminative scourge of cancer.

Life requires courage. We can call upon the Spirit for help; it is one of the Spirit’s gifts to us. Life isn’t easy, not for any one of us. Some battles are more easily noticed than others, but visible isn’t always and indicator of magnitude. Sometimes the battles that require the most courage are invisible. Let us seek the LORD’s help when we need it with confidence and gratitude. And let us keep our eyes and minds and hearts open for those who could use a companion and some loving support.

God bless baseball. No wonder it is the great American sport.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.