2,131 Ten Years Later

Now I know that I am getting old. It has been 10 years since number eight trotted around Camden Yards (I never could call it Oriole Park) and single-handedly saved baseball as we know it. I didn't get to see the game live, because ten years ago, September 6 was a Wednesday night. Being a good Baptist, we had prayer meeting and choir rehearsal. I couldn't skip because I was, well, the music minister. They wouldn't cancel the service because they didn't care about Cal Ripken or the Orioles. So I did the next best thing. I taped it. I still have that tape, and I hope Major League Baseball doesn't come after me if I get nostalgic and illegally rebroadcast it on my tv without their "express written consent."

Cal was a throw-back player. He went to work because he had a job to do. Now, I don't buy that the person playing baseball is any greater than the person who works construction all his life. Playing ball might require an entirely different set of skills, but it is a job none-the-less. But imagine, if you will, that you go out to the construction site every day for almost 6 years without a day off. That means you never call in sick, never take a vacation, and get no days off for holidays. This is, in effect, what the iron-man did. And he did it with a spirit of humility. I used to think Rafael Palmeiro was that type, but I have recently been disappointed by him.

Now to the spiritual part of this: How come we have to look to Major League Baseball to find someone who is a hard worker with a humble attitude? Where are the Christian leaders of today who spend themselves in the cause of Christ, asking nothing in return? I could name a few, but I run out of names before I run out of fingers. Oh, that we, who claim to be under-shepherds in Christ's church, would be iron-men, who work hard, never give up, stick it out to the end, and do so with a spirit of humility.