Day 93: Longing for The Game’s Healing Power

DAY 93

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of fait

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

WEEK FOURTEEN: MONDAY 15 JUNE 2020

Longing for The Game’s Healing Power

“Perhaps there is no greater example of the healing power of baseball than following the attacks of September 11, 2001. The first game played in New York was only 10 days after the tragedy … it was a somber occasion as fans and players alike were brought to tears after the singing of the national anthem … The melancholy lingered into the eighth inning until … a home run caused the fans to erupt in joyous celebration. It was if a single swing had lifted a collective weight, giving permission to New Yorkers, and perhaps the nation, to cheer again. Spectator sports have therapeutic benefit in times of both national and personal crisis.” - Recent newspaper article by the same title

Sitting in my office trying to stay focused on my work was proving impossible, as my mind and emotions kept drifting into the territory of personal family issues. Telling the office I was leaving for the day, I drove to Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis for an afternoon Cardinals baseball game. My free clergy pass, compliments of the Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, gained me entrance to the general admission section and I hiked up to an isolated top row. I love heights, and being there, the expanse of the stadium, the fans, the focusing on every play, soon found me in a different, better, more peaceful place. I can testify to the ‘therapeutic benefit,’ the ‘healing power’ of sports. It gave me back perspective. (And I miss baseball in St. Louis and Seattle.)   

Reflective question: What about you? Do sports figure in your pandemic lockdown, and if so, are you open to the Holy Spirit using sports in some way in your life?

Reflective Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:5 – “… if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules.”

Reflective hymn: In baseball there is a tradition of what they call a ‘walk up song’ played as a player walks up to the plate. Christian players sometimes choose songs like “Battle Song” © 2011, rap by Lecrae. You can listen to it on YouTube.    

            

Was engineered in my mother’s womb for God’s glory,

Plenty faith in the persecution inventory.

I’ve been spit in the face, still exhibiting grace

Kicked out many a place, just for sharing my faith …

My belt tight, shoes laced, plus a breastplate,

My war helmet on now got my head straight.

The battle’s on but the war is over when Jesus reigns,

And fo’ His name I withstand the pressure and take the pain.

And if they drop us, this promise, we’ll take it to the grave,

That tonight we may die, but to die is our gain!