(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)
Now that baseball is back, it’s time to make something of the nature of the sport that has given it longevity as “America’s pastime.” First let’s just think about that — passing time. Doesn’t that sound great right now? Doesn’t that sound like something you’d like to have the luxury to do?
Think about the fact that people would actually pay money for the permission to pass some time. That’s after being forced into our homes to pass time, with no seeming end to it. This is something of a relief — legitimate time passing contained in a span of a few hours bordering on entertainment that conceivably could never end, but always does. Baseball is time. Time to have a hot dog, enjoy some peanuts, chat with the fans around you, watch a lazy fly ball, stand up and actually get excited now and then … that’s what baseball is all about. The things that people who don’t like the sport complain about the most are the very things that make it special. “Too slow,” they always say. Let’s raise a stadium beer to “slow.”
The definition of “pastime” is: “An activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work.” That we have the luxury to even do that is what makes baseball important and why it will never go away.
Actually baseball is all about control. The team that’s at bat tries to create chaos; the team in the field tries to bring it under control. And in that is a spiritual reality as well. The world may seem like it’s getting more and more out of control, but God will pull it all together in the end. There will be an end to this game. We even know who will win. It’s been promised.
So as long as the world isn’t totally out of control, we will have baseball. Thank God for that. We will watch time pass as the winning team finally gets enough control to end the suffering of the loser, and remember that however chaotic things get in the world, God will do the same.
John Fischer The Catch 
I love that John. Very insightful.
Could be wrong, surely have been before, yet Today’s Catch helped me understand one of the reason’s you, Pastor John are a big baseball fan b/c I think / believe you are a “C” type of personality out of Dr. Robert Rohm’s DISC Method of Understanding Personality Types and the C among other things represents Control.
PS wondering Pastor John is Control important to you? And how would you answer these 2 questions: Do u consider a big people person, or less and do you like doing task?
I don’t think so, Mark. I actually see myself as small and am intimidated by “big” people.
Can you please consider answering the 2 questions:
So yet again: Do u consider a people person, or less and do you like doing task?
Mar Fischer, my husband and myself not much on baseball at this time. However, what a great comparison with a baseball game and what the Lord will do in the end. So true about God and and extremely chaotic world. I know I will understand even more when I reread this again tomorrow. Thanks so much.
And it brings out the best in people. From the “consider others better than yourself” dept:
All-Star outfielder Cedric Mullins is the first player in Orioles history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season. He also suffers from Crons disease, which required him to undergo surgery to remove part of his intestine prior in November 2020 (after playing most of that season in constant pain).
All this happened after his teammate, Trey Mancini had been diagnosed with life-threatening colon cancer, which caused him to undergo chemotherapy and miss the entire 2020 season. Surprisingly, Mancini returned to the field in 2021, triumphantly earning comeback player of the year honors.
Mullins did not reveal his diagnosis or treatment until after the 2021 season, because he wanted his teammate to receive the attention and support:
“My situation wasn’t life or death,” Mullins said. “It was something I knew I’d be able to come back from, and Trey was coming back from his chemotherapy, and for me, all the support needed to go to him. For him to do what he did, come back and play a full season, regardless of how tired he was, he showed up every single day and he performed really well, and I thought it was important for him to get that recognition.
“His accomplishment, it really outweighs mine, in my opinion. That was his moment.”
https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2022/03/mancini-and-mullins-strengthen-bond-over-health-crisis.html