Tongue Swallowing
I swore that I'd never let it happen...I was wrong.
I never wanted to be 1 of those dad's. You know the kind if you've been to the ballpark. Constantly barking at his kid, turning his head in disgust, muttering under his breath & otherwise making a complete ass out of himself.
As the tears built in my Cam's eyes, I could feel his pain pierce my soul. I'd done exactly what I never wanted to. I swallowed my tongue for the remainder of the game & hopefully the rest of the season.
I know that the game is supposed to be fun, but I can't help but feel the pull of playing it the right way & to the best of your ability. I often feel that for some strange reason we're obligated to the game in some sense, to do it a service for allowing us to participate. To provide the blemished sacrifice of anything less than our best seems inappropriate & down right shameful.
I remained pretty quiet the rest of the game & tried to collect my thoughts. How do I relate the importance of playing ball the right way to Cam & the rest of the t-ballers? How do I get them to buy into the idea that anything less than our best effort is a disservice to ourselves & our teammates?
The relationship between fun & seriousness in the game reminds me a great deal of our primary Relationship & the shades of grey between good/best, sacrifice/obedience & legalism/liberty. These issues constantly seem to be lost in 1 another & at times leave me wondering if we can ever make sense of it all. Missing the point is almost inevitable from 1 time to the next & it's at times like these that we should digress, do a little tongue swallowing & allow for Truth to reorganize our thoughts appropriately.
On the ride home I tried to refocus, myself 1st then Cam. He thought me to be mad because he hadn't blocked a ball or 2 @ 1st, when in all actuality I was disappointed because he failed to listen, be disciplined & play up to his potential. I tried to relay the fact that I didn't care if he missed a ball or 2 or 200 when he's giving it his best, but to do anything less disappoints his teammates & ultimately himself. I just didn't want for him to look back in regret over what might have been.
He did anyways. He nearly cried when they lost. I know that you may find this silly, but it breaks my heart. I hate to see my kids hurt, regardless of how big or small the injury.
Faith seems to be a lot like the game to me. The game is supposed to be a lot of fun...so is faith, you know the abundant life & all. The game has attributes that are to be respected if you want to be successful & so does faith, you know love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind & soul & love your neighbor as yourself. The game has a static place between fun & seriousness that is to be mastered to play it to it's full & so does faith, you know how the glory of God is man fully alive & this life of man is the vision of God.
Dying to the game, allows us to truly enjoy it. Knowing our role, giving it our best & fulfilling our potential even in defeat, allows us to conquer regret through obedience & live without remorse. Our walks should be no different.
Well done my good & faithful servant speaks of playing the game in this manner. I would that when I depart this field that I could leave it knowing that I held nothing back. That when I'm done my life shows that obedience was my rule irregardless to the majority rule & that I settled not for what seemed good, but held out for the best as was laid out before me. When looking back means that I fulfilled the very letter of the law by doing those things upon which all the law hangs rather than being condemned by the unfulfilled caveats that are too many to number. To live any other way is to rob God & cheat yourself.
Play ball!
I never wanted to be 1 of those dad's. You know the kind if you've been to the ballpark. Constantly barking at his kid, turning his head in disgust, muttering under his breath & otherwise making a complete ass out of himself.
As the tears built in my Cam's eyes, I could feel his pain pierce my soul. I'd done exactly what I never wanted to. I swallowed my tongue for the remainder of the game & hopefully the rest of the season.
I know that the game is supposed to be fun, but I can't help but feel the pull of playing it the right way & to the best of your ability. I often feel that for some strange reason we're obligated to the game in some sense, to do it a service for allowing us to participate. To provide the blemished sacrifice of anything less than our best seems inappropriate & down right shameful.
I remained pretty quiet the rest of the game & tried to collect my thoughts. How do I relate the importance of playing ball the right way to Cam & the rest of the t-ballers? How do I get them to buy into the idea that anything less than our best effort is a disservice to ourselves & our teammates?
The relationship between fun & seriousness in the game reminds me a great deal of our primary Relationship & the shades of grey between good/best, sacrifice/obedience & legalism/liberty. These issues constantly seem to be lost in 1 another & at times leave me wondering if we can ever make sense of it all. Missing the point is almost inevitable from 1 time to the next & it's at times like these that we should digress, do a little tongue swallowing & allow for Truth to reorganize our thoughts appropriately.
On the ride home I tried to refocus, myself 1st then Cam. He thought me to be mad because he hadn't blocked a ball or 2 @ 1st, when in all actuality I was disappointed because he failed to listen, be disciplined & play up to his potential. I tried to relay the fact that I didn't care if he missed a ball or 2 or 200 when he's giving it his best, but to do anything less disappoints his teammates & ultimately himself. I just didn't want for him to look back in regret over what might have been.
He did anyways. He nearly cried when they lost. I know that you may find this silly, but it breaks my heart. I hate to see my kids hurt, regardless of how big or small the injury.
Faith seems to be a lot like the game to me. The game is supposed to be a lot of fun...so is faith, you know the abundant life & all. The game has attributes that are to be respected if you want to be successful & so does faith, you know love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind & soul & love your neighbor as yourself. The game has a static place between fun & seriousness that is to be mastered to play it to it's full & so does faith, you know how the glory of God is man fully alive & this life of man is the vision of God.
Dying to the game, allows us to truly enjoy it. Knowing our role, giving it our best & fulfilling our potential even in defeat, allows us to conquer regret through obedience & live without remorse. Our walks should be no different.
Well done my good & faithful servant speaks of playing the game in this manner. I would that when I depart this field that I could leave it knowing that I held nothing back. That when I'm done my life shows that obedience was my rule irregardless to the majority rule & that I settled not for what seemed good, but held out for the best as was laid out before me. When looking back means that I fulfilled the very letter of the law by doing those things upon which all the law hangs rather than being condemned by the unfulfilled caveats that are too many to number. To live any other way is to rob God & cheat yourself.
Play ball!
posted by lee at 10:07 AM
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