Mike Sweeney

It's been a long time since I've posted, but because of a few conversations and a few things I've seen lately, I thought it was time to start again. And what better way to start than with the story of Mike Sweeney.

I'm not going to retell the story of Mike Sweeney - Joe Posnanski does a terrific job of that in his latest essay. Go ahead and read that first…

Welcome back. Theologian Alister McGrath writes, "We are all on a journey, whether we like it or not. For some, that journey leads from birth to death and no further. For others, who have come to know God, that journey is more complex." Mike Sweeney is a devout believer, and his journey through over 1450 baseball games without playing in the post-season has been complex, but through all the trials of playing for losing teams, mostly the Kansas City Royals, Sweeney has found joy in playing baseball. His taking an undervalued contract to play in Kansas City is a model of trust in God that overcomes greed. His quiet enduring of fans who later forgot that he took less money than he could have to stay in Kansas City and booed him, is a model of Christlike patience. His thank you letter at the end of his Royals career, noting that "faith, hope, and love remain, but the greatest of these is love," offers a way of sharing your faith with the kind of class that results in a standing ovation (which he receive the next day before his first at bat of his final game). His building a baseball field in a part of Kansas City that used to be home to drug dealers is a model of using the resources God gives you to transform part of your world into the kingdom of God.

And now, for the first time, Mike Sweeney is playing post-season baseball. He got a hit in his one at bat against the Reds. Maybe he'll get a chance to pinch-hit in the NL Championship Series. Maybe he'll even get to play in the World Series, if the Phillies can make it there. It would be a delight if he were to have a game- or series-winning hit in one of those series. But even if he doesn't, his complex journey has been a light shining in a professional sports world that is too often full of darkness.

I hope Mike Sweeney gets to pinch-hit in an important moment of the post-season, and I hope he gets a winning hit. But even if he doesn't, he's made far more important hits.

Wie geht es Ihnen?

One of the things that I had hoped to do before our trip was to learn some conversational German.  I worked at it some, but the last month before the sabbatical were very full, and my study of German was put aside.  I'm now trying to cram a bit -- it will be interesting to see how much I will actually be able to learn before we get to Frankfurt, and whether or not I will be able to get us around the airport, hotel, restaurant, and train station before we meet up with the Schuenemann family.

We had great excitement last night, as Sam's Little League team was in the semi-final round of the tournament, and Sam, with the bases loaded in the bottom of the last inning, hit a ball over the centerfielder's head for a 2-run, game-winning single!  He was so excited!  Then he was sad, because we planned to have him go camping today with his cousins (Karin would join him next week) and that would mean missing the championship game.  He chose to be at the championship game and wait to go camping until next week.  We'll see how his big game goes!

Tyler comes home tonight from the mission trip with the YACS to Minneapolis.  It sounds like he's had a good week.  We've heard little from him, so I assume that's good news.  It will be good to see him.

Less Than A Week Away...

It's been a good, relaxing week.  Reading.  Playing tennis.  Watching Little League baseball.  Checking a few items off the "honey do" list.  I got three new books to read for Father's Day, so in addition to the ministry related books, I've now got some good sports-related books to read.

In less than a week, I'll be boarding a plane for Scotland.  I'm excited and nervous.  I'm especially hoping that Andy Murray, the Scottish tennis star, makes it to the finals at Wimbledon.  I imagine that there will be a lot of interest in Scotland if he can make it that far!

The latest issue of the "Quiet Waters Compass" (the publication of Quiet Waters Ministries, located in Denver, where Karin and I will be going for two weeks) has a good article on "Midlife Transition: Embracing Your 'Second Adulthood.'"  It puts a finger on some things that are going on inside me as I move through my late forties.  The author shares the questions she has participants at "Midlife Momentum retreats" work through, and they are questions I'm looking at myself.  In light of Ephesians 2:10 -- "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." -- consider these questions:

1.  How has God been at work in my life, preparing me for this next season?

2.  What are the good works that God has in store for me?

3.  What do I need to do to fully walk in them?

Those questions will help focus my spiritual reading and prayer and journaling for the weeks ahead.