Posts Tagged: senior softball
“A Small Dose of God Revealed”
Today’s post is from a guest writer: my wife. This is her prayer that she read to me after she wrote it for “The Rooted Experience,” a journey that our church family is taking together. The prayer was written as a response to the following prompt: “Write a prayer to God asking Him to reveal Himself to you.” Her writing was so good that I asked her permission to share it with you. She graciously agreed.
“I think it is a scary prayer to ask God to reveal Himself to me. I was sitting at the ballfield while the guys were practicing before the game, working on this study. I thought, I can only take small doses of God revealing Himself to me.
About that time, an older gentleman pulled up in his red Hybrid car. He had come to play ball. He appeared to be in his mid to late 70’s. As he slowly hobbled across the parking lot carrying his bat, I suddenly felt compassion for him.
Is this how God sees us? Yearning for the days of our youth. Broken down and worn out from the burdens of life. And yet, still looking for that spark of pleasure that tells us we’re still in the game.
God sent His Son, Jesus, to tell us we can all still be in the game. This life is not all there is. He is the Ultimate Coach that can bring this team back to life by believing and turning all our old ways over to Him and following His example. The trophy for a well-played game is Eternal Life in Paradise.
Oh, did God just reveal Himself to me in a small dose?”
Postscript: The “hobbler” did an excellent job playing third base for the team I play on. His accomplishments included handling virtually everything that was hit his way, initiating a triple play, and hitting a triple himself. We won!
Everybody wins with Jesus—even those who lose. And thanks, dear wife, for an excellent piece of writing, and a wonderful prayer.
“Of Anger, Being Late, Dreams, and Faith”
I had a dream in which I was very angry. This guy whom I thought my wife and I were helping out (for free, no less) yelled at us—after we had helped him—for not being on time. We were supposed to be there at 4:30, and we had shown up at 3:08. When I asked the man about those times, he repeated those times, and then I repeated those times, but he still didn’t realize how irrational and unfair his fear was. I was furious.
Waking up furious is not a good thing.
However, I have a lovely painted rock on my desk that says, “Just Breathe.” Right.
A friend of mine who is a psychologist said to me one time that some psychologists think that all of the characters in a dream are different parts of ourselves. Certainly, I have an angry, irrational self. In fact, I am often angry with myself for being such an angry self! And I most certainly struggle with being on time.
So, after my unsettling dream, I get out of bed, go to the bathroom, put on the coffee, and make my bed. I open my You Version app on my phone. The verse for today is Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” I could definitely use some wisdom (and instruction) when it comes to managing my anger and being on time.
My 3-minute retreat from the Jesuits had a meditation that was based on Romans 5:1: “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I looked at this verse in the Greek. The verb “we have” is a present tense, which suggests an ongoing reality. We continually have peace through our faith in Jesus Christ.
So, why don’t I have continual peace, even when I’m asleep? It is probably because I don’t really believe, deeply enough, that Jesus has got this, whatever “this” may be.
Of course, I take some consolation from the fact that Paul writes Romans 5:1 to people who are already believers. Why did he need to do that? Likely because they were so prone to forget it! And so am I.
So, I enter my sixth day in a row with a conscious sense that God and I will go through this day together. However, I also enter the day with the awareness that I am prone to be angry and late.
In a little while, I will be playing softball in the senior league that I’m in. Getting angry is definitely possible. We may be a bunch of old guys, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t get as angry with ourselves or others as a bunch of twelve-year-olds.
But I’ve been forewarned.
I think this journal entry has become today’s blog post, so I need to take care of posting it. Otherwise, I might be late for my pre-game warm-up routine! And that would make me angry!
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- “Even a Sliver of Light” April 9, 2024“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:6, English Standard Version) I missed the total eclipse yesterday. There were a number of good reasons for this, but […]
- “The Process in Miracles and the Miracle of Process” March 11, 2024“2 Kings 5:1 Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the LORD had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. 2 Now the Syrians on one of their raids […]
- “The Power of Encouragement—Even for Old People” March 10, 2024“But encourage each other every day while it is ‘today.’ Help each other so none of you will become hardened because sin has tricked you.” (Hebrews 3:13, New Century Version) Yesterday, I was walking at a nearby park. There was a large group of young people some of whom were running while other young people […]
- “Endurance” March 10, 2024“For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.” (Hebrews 10:36, English Standard Version) “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us […]
- “The Limits of Non-Judgmentalism” February 24, 2024“Matt. 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. Matt. 7:2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, English Standard Version) This morning, in my virtual 12-step meeting, we discussed the topic of judgmentalism. There were many wise […]
- “Delighting in Being Told What to Do?!?” February 23, 2024“Psa. 112:1 Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures […]
- “Character is the Real Lesson” January 19, 2024I am often confused about what lesson I’m really supposed to be learning. For example, this morning I was trying to knock out several Spanish lessons. My intentions were a lot better than my internet connection. I’ve done three lessons. Or rather, I’ve done two lessons. One of them I did twice because the internet […]
- “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked” January 1, 2024Each year, I try to come up with one word or a short phrase for what I intend to work on in the upcoming year. 2024 is “The Year of Becoming Un-Planked”. What?!! What does that even mean? So glad that you asked! Jesus said to his disciples, “Why do you look at the speck […]
- “Searching for the Noble One” December 26, 2023My wife and I were reading Luke, chapter 2 on Christmas Day. Luke 2 talks about the shepherds being told to look for this very special child—in fact, this King—in a stable. I prefer the word “barn”. I grew up on a farm. I know what a barn is. A stable is entirely too biblical […]
- “That Don’t Impress God Much” December 14, 2023DTEB, “That Don’t Impress God Much” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” (Song by Robert John Lange and Shania Twain) Micah 6:8 (MSG) “But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be […]
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