A Good Day at the Old Ballpark

The crowd of nearly 30,000 let out a huge groan. Cubs center fielder Rafael Ortega had the ball in his glove, but it popped out, allowing yet another run to score. The Cubs had scored the previous inning, cutting the Royals' lead to 5-1, and now they gave that run right back.

"I don't understand why we even came today, dad," a ten-year-old boy lamented to his father in the stands. "I don't even know most of the players that are out there right now."

"Son, there's more to attending a game than whether the Cubs win," the father replied. "It's about enjoying the warm summer weather and spending time with those you love."

The boy looked around. The seats that actually did have fans in them were filled with people wearing lots of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Javier Baez, and Kyle Schwarber jerseys. "I just don't understand why they had to get rid of all those guys. Especially Baez; he was my favorite player. He made so many cool plays. Why did they have to send him to the Mets?"

No one could blame the boy for being upset. The Cubs had lost 12 straight games at Wrigley Field and, with the home team down 6-1, it became all the more likely that they were about to endure unlucky loss #13.

"Well, son, unfortunately baseball is a business above all else. It's good that you learn that now. When I was a kid, I idolized Sammy Sosa. On the day that they traded him to the Orioles, it ripped my heart out."

The boy seemed unmoved. "And what about all those Baez cards that you bought me? What am I going to do with those now?"

"Well, you don't have to get rid of them. You can hold onto them. You can still like Baez. At least you'll have all those great memories of watching him play."

The two turned back towards the field as the conversation paused for a moment, and they blankly stared out onto the field as the Royals added on another run to make it 7-1.

The father tried to turn the conversation in a positive direction. "Son, I wish you could have been around for the great home run chase of 1998 between McGwire and Sosa. The whole country was caught up with baseball fever. It was unlike anything I've ever seen."

"I'll bet that Wrigley was a lot more fun place to be back then," replied the son.

"Oh, it was rockin'. And, I know you're not really old enough to remember 2016 well, but man, this was the place to be. The seats were filled every day. The Cubs couldn't lose. And then..."

"Well, they almost blew it in the World Series, didn't they?"

"Yeah, the comeback. The Indians thought they had it won after they took Game 4. I would give anything to go back and relive those days. I wish you had been old enough to appreciate it, but that's okay. At least we have lots of great memories to look forward to in the future together."

"When do you think the Cubs will be good again?"

"I hope it's soon, son. But we'll see."

The two sat in silence for several more minutes before the son broke in again. "Did you hear that the Cubs will be playing the Reds in the Field of Dreams game next year? Do you think we can go, dad?"

"Well, I'd love to, son. I heard tickets were really expensive this year. Plus I don't know right now whether I'll be able to get it off work. We'll have to see."

It was a hot, humid day in August, with the home team losing big. There were plenty of reasons to be frustrated, but at least a father and son were able to bond and spend some quality time together at the old ballpark.

With the Cubs losing 9-1 in the bottom of the ninth, and much of the paying crowd having departed for the day, the two looked around the stadium, taking it all in. "You know," the dad resumed, "It won't be too long before it will be freezing cold out here and there will be snow covering the field. Let's just enjoy these final moments that we have before we gotta leave for good."

"Thanks for bringing me today, dad."

"You're welcome, son."

Would God approve this message?

I was watching a baseball game last night, and there was a commercial in which someone was advocating getting the COVID-19 vaccine. In the commercial, the speaker was inside a church and quoted 1 Corinthians 13:13 in support of the vaccine: "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." The speaker was talking about how getting the vaccine not only helps you, but shows that you care about other people as well.

My initial reaction was outrage. They've tried just about every tactic to pressure us into getting this vaccine, and now they're using religion too? I thought about it some more and wondered, would God really approve of us using His Word to support this?

Now, I'm not against vaccines. I do believe that science should be used for good whenever possible. I believe that God created ways for us to combat disease and that, once we discover them, we should use them to our advantage. My problem is that, at least in this case, His Word was being used as part of a larger plot to try to scare us into getting this vaccine. Would God approve of this?

While I believe in the power of science, I also do not believe that the Lord intends for us to live in fear. The Bible mentions this in quite a few places. For example, 1 John 4:18 reads, "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." Further, 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline."

Again, I believe that we shouldn't live carelessly and just trust that God will take care of us. I believe that we should take precautions to protect our health as much as is possible; that is part of what it means to follow Christ, in my opinion. I just don't like the fact that God is being used in this situation to scare people, as this whole situation that has been going on for the past year and a half has been all about fear. Perhaps you disagree with me, but I do not believe that what is happening now comes from God, but rather is evil.

If our society truly cared about following God's Word and loving our neighbor, then why are we so obsessed with fighting COVID-19 while not addressing the other issues in our society? What about hunger, for example? Every day, thousands of people die of starvation. What are we doing about that? Think about what we could do about hunger if we put half the effort into feeding the hungry that we have in trying to get people to get this vaccine. We could be so much better off.

I think we know the answer to that. The media can't scare or divide people over hunger, or any other issue that our society is facing, the same way that they can when it comes to COVID-19. People get upset about masks and vaccines, on both sides of the issue, but there's no money to be made or fear to be mongered over hunger.

Again, you may disagree with me, but I do not believe that God's Word is intended to be used to try to guilt people into getting the COVID-19 vaccine. I believe that we are to love others and that we are supposed to take care of each other, but I don't think God approves of this use of His Word. If you see this commercial, or any other religious pleas to get the vaccine, remember Isaiah 41:10: "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

We may be going through difficult times right now, but God is always there. And I will choose to lean on that.

What kind of world are we living in now?

Over the last several days, I've seen lots of memes, statuses, and other posts regarding the whole mask wearing and getting vaccinated thing, and I've seen a lot that I agree with and have been tempted to share. It's just so sad what this world has come to and I felt like I needed to share some thoughts.

Now, I'm not writing this as either a political expert or a medical expert. I'm just an average citizen who is concerned about what I'm seeing. In March of 2020, we shut everything down because we were told that we had "14 days to flatten the curve." Then in July of 2020, at least here in Michigan, we were given a mask mandate and were told that we would knock this virus out in 4-6 weeks. That mandate ended up lasting about a year. It's a slippery slope that we've continued to slide down.

And after all the damage we've done to our society through shutdowns and mandates, it appears - at least we're being told - that we still don't have this virus under control. Even with all these people being "vaccinated," we now have a new "variant" that is doing damage. How could we let an illness inflict so much damage upon our society?

Now, I do believe that COVID-19 is real and that it is a serious issue. However, what has it caused to happen to our society? We're losing our freedoms, and that should concern everyone, regardless of political affiliation. The fact that so many people are just blindly going along with it is alarming.

What happened to our freedom to choose what is best for us and our families? Many people are being forced to get this vaccine or to lose their jobs or to lose many other freedoms that we have taken for granted for so long. This vaccine has been shoved down our throats by the government and the media without knowing what the long-term effects are and whether it really is even effective. If you make the personal decision to get the vaccine, I have nothing against you for that. But to force people to either get it or to lose their freedoms is just insane. I can't be the only one who thinks this.

And as for wearing masks, again, this has been going on for over a year. The science is dubious, at best, regarding whether they actually work, while at worst, wearing them causes many other health problems. Yet even assuming that they do work, how long is this supposed to go on for? Why are we forcing small children to wear them at school all day long? On the surface, they are a minor inconvenience, yet they aren't referred to as "slave muzzles" for nothing. They symbolize our helplessness at the situation we're in.

It's just unbelievable to me what has happened to us. The worst part is that we are so deeply divided over these issues, even accusing one another of killing each other. We're all tired and frustrated, and personally, I'm wondering how much longer all of this is supposed to go on for.

We've done everything we've been asked to do yet are being told that things aren't getting better. We shut everything down, which caused grief to millions of people. We wore masks for a year. People have been getting this vaccine. And now we're still being told that things aren't getting any better. What comes next? I'm afraid to find out.

The good news is that there is hope. Now, every time a new crisis comes up, we always remind each other to trust in God, that He has things under control, but what exactly does that mean? I've been thinking about how that applies to the mess we're currently in, about how we keep being told, "Just do this and we'll knock this virus out" over and over again. First of all, I'm reminded of what a wicked world this is and how all greatness comes from Him. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by anything that this world throws at us.

But what does God ask from us, compared to what our government and media are asking of us now? They keep asking us to do more and more for the good of society, many of their promises turning out to be empty. God only asks one thing of us: to accept Him as our Savior. That's it. He doesn't say, hey, do this, and you'll receive eternal life, then pull the rug out from under you and ask you to do something more cumbersome. Nope. Just trust Him and your eternity is assured.

I don't know about you, but for me, that's a great assurance. I'm choosing not to put my hope in a face mask or a vaccine, but in God. I may have to put up with a lot of terrible things in this world, but I know there's so much more than what we see here. And that's a good feeling.