Uncle Charlie

This week must see tv for me has been the Little League World Series. I love the drama & the passion w/which these amazing kids play the game. It allows me to escape for awhile, forgetting the pompous arrogance of over-paid big leaguers & ultimately letting me revisit a time in my life when I donned the uni.

My time in the sun now done, I think of Cam & all the potential housed in his 3'7" 47# frame. I love to watch him, not only because he's mine, but mainly because he loves to play & does so w/passion. His passion for the game is not unlike those in Williamsport now & so I watch.

He even prays for skills to play the game better every night. Although they've become repetitive & habitual, we cut him some slack since he's only 5. They include line drive requests, homeruns, speed & improved glove work.

However, Cam's been reluctant to get in the yard w/his old man & put into practice what his prayers are all about. Guess he's saving it for the games. Whatever the reason, Amy & I have tried to tell him that Jesus won't honor his prayers for increased baseball prowess w/out some effort on his part.

It wasn't long after that that those very words begin to bounce around my head like a passed ball to the backstop. They've flown completely passed my catcher, slamming off the rear fencing w/a mighty clang & a cloud of dust. How like me.

For too long I've prayed a good game w/Jesus, but have more often than not, found myself doing little else besides. I save my best 'stuff' for the games that, by the way, are played w/& against my own team, never truly seeking to take it to the next level or to compete the way/where that I should. Since the game is little more than I supped up scrimmage, I maintain at best & atrophy at worst.

I've heard all the cliche's about getting off the sidelines & into the game, but I'm not so sure that this truly reveals what's happening here. Maybe the game we were so pressed to enter was not the real game, but merely a scrimmage. Scrimmages can prove valuable, but not as an end all. Our effectiveness is in the realization of this non-game scrimmage for what it is & how it should apply to our taking our passion to compete to the real thing.

The game I play now is in a ballpark bigger than I could've ever imagined. I love to hit the field & just be, always dreaming of the call to join the parent club. Play is defined by absolutes, but style is nothing but the identity of the player & how he approaches the game.

No doubt Jesus could hit a curveball & he's teaching me how too. Although he's still in love w/the sacrifice. Unfortunately not enough glory in it for me...but I'm learning.

I would pray that we'd all stop practicing the pretenses w/each other, because we think that that's what the other wants to hear. Let's all get down & dirty w/the rough kids down the street that are always dominating the sandlot. If we hurry we'll all be able to get our hacks in before the sun goes down.

Who's w/me...?

Play ball!