The Pitch of Politics

Baseball runs through the veins of my guys; they bleed black and orange for the Orioles!  This sport dominates much of the passion inside their hearts and the bond they share by spectating and participating together.  Since Braeden was a toddler, strong enough to swing a plastic bat, he has enjoyed baseball with Willie as mom and lil' sister cheered from the stands.  It's never been about the score or the skill, just the love of the game.  My guys' faces light up anytime baseball is mentioned.  So many memories have been made together.  As a Mama watching from the bleachers, their connection with one another and with the game is breathtaking.  Whether a home-run or a strike-out,  their character remains steadfast--joyful and in love with the leather.  Willie coaches with integrity and Braeden plays with heart.

Little League brings America's National pastime into the hearts and homes of many youth each spring.  We begin gearing up in January and anticipate the adjusted schedules, 4:15pm suppers, sacrifices, time, stained uniforms to scrub, practices, opening day, and the sheer delight in the fact that its baseball season again!  Every year baseball brings an energy to our family like none other.  It truly is our family's sport.  From late winter to late June we eat, sleep, and breathe baseball as Willie and Braeden suit up and hit the field together.  We enjoy many trips to Baltimore to cheer on the O's and experience baseball at yet another level--in Camden Yards.  It may not be our little diva's favorite thing, but baseball is our family's thing.

So as our family begins to wind up for Braeden's final year in Little League, the ruthless pitch of politics is thrown directly at us and stings the glove of our family.  The all-about-winning minds are wheeling and dealing and have designed a curve ball that severs this father and son.  Braeden's final year in Little League will not include his best coach in the dugout.  Baseball has quickly become tainted for my guys and the pain in their eyes and hearts is almost too much for this Mama to bear.  The love of the game has become painful as the reality of what has been lost sets in.

Thoughts of this being a tool to grow character and accomplish hard things asked of us by the Lord are just too soon to digest.  I suppose grieving would be the appropriate description.  Trying to make sense of the senseless and then explain the senseless to your 12 year old baseball fanatic is heartbreaking.  Watching my man struggle with this curve ball is gut-wrenching.  Seeing the disappointment on my child's face and shoulders is enraging.  Emotions have so many stages.  This Mama is praying for God's grace to move through them honorably.

So how do we respond to such injustice in the Christ-like manner required of us?  How do we respectfully submit ourselves to the "authority" that has stripped us of our family's dream?  "Turn the other cheek" or "fight for what's right"?  How do we reflect Christ in our actions?  The pitch of politics hits hard and plays for keeps.  The world's scoreboard will always look much different than God's scoreboard.

Politics will always be a painful part of our lives in this fallen world.  Man motivated by what he thinks will accomplish his own elevation.  The idol of self is commonly worshiped when man turns his focus inward and not Upward.  We are all subject to this pull.  Human nature is the hereditary gene we all have.  Its whether we choose to feed it or starve it that determines if we are self-seeking or Christ-seeking.

The pitch of politics stings sharply this week.  We continue to pray for wisdom, discernment, and the Lord's Will for how this family will play baseball this spring and how He will be glorified in this loss.  No matter what the score says at the end of the game, it will be recorded Who you played for and how you played His game.  Christ's team is always victorious!