Surpassing Worth

Wanna see the state of American morality depicted in a colored graph?

I’m dangerously tetering on an emotional post and an irrational rant. But take this for what it is – a disappointed Cubs fan’s plea for help.

I feel as if I’ve been punched in the stomach by my own grandmother. It’s comparitively a soft blow, but still it hurts, because of the one who’s dealing the blow. I’ve been a Cubs fan my whole life. I grew up going to games with my Grandpa on sunny summer afternoons and watching WGN televise all their regular season games. I watched Andre Dawson, witnessed Ryne Sandberg, sat to enjoy Mark Grace, and anticipated the starts of the young Greg Maddux. You can almost say, I was birthed into the Cubs family. I didn’t choose it, it chose me. And just as any young child, I was initially enamored with all my family. I thought they were the bestest and greatest people ever to don a uniform and swing a bat. But as I grew in my inquisitive nature, I kept asking the questions no one wanted to answer, “Why do we keep losing?” Then growing into my adolescence, I never found a satisfactory answer except for those that instinctively replied, “That’s just the way it is” or “There’s always next year!” And you can say I went through my rebellious adolescence as I nearly left the game of baseball to try my luck at other sports. Bowling, Football, and even Hockey were great fun, but merely my attempt to run away from the hurt that inevitably came at the end of every Cubs baseball season. You invest so much into a team, you can’t help but to take it personally, when they lose.

But then came the turn of the century. There seemed to be a new aura surrounding the club. Owners were willing to spend the money and the players were sick of the curse. All parties involved were committed to finally win. And for a few years, valiant efforts were made to change the concluding paragraph of each season, but to no avail. Then came the 2003 season. The prologue to the season seemed promising with all the hype surrounding the team. And the ensuing paragraphs didn’t let down. The regular season was one heroic tale after another culminating in a dramatic playoff bid that finally looked promising. But as most dedicated baseball fans know, an unforeseen tragedy derailed this joy ride. And again, the last chapter was written on a somber note. But I must say this was the year that my love for baseball was again found. It was the prodigal’s return home to the sport that had raised him. But it was as if I got home to witness my beloved uncle win the lottery and then watch him get mugged for all he’s worth, all in the same week. Let me just say, my love returned for the game, but the pain never left.

At the beginning of this year’s season, I wrote about how this was the year that they were going to put to rest this dreaded curse. And throughout the year, I was convinced this was the year they were destined to be the lovable winners. And all the way up to the first game of the playoffs last week, I was sure that this was the year they were going to put to rest all the naysayers. But this years concluding paragraph was nothing new. It was a dismal showing in the playoffs deflating the hopes of Cubs fans nationwide, and reigniting the hopeless optimism of every Cubs fan – “Well, maybe next year.”

For me, it was tough – tougher than usual. Maybe because this team seemed so complete during the regular season. Maybe because I finally had no doubts that they’d win the world series. Maybe because they played like little league school kids in the playoffs, who couldn’t hit the ball if it was set up on the tee for them. But I bet it was simply because this season, like 100 of them previous to this year, ended with another team celebrating.

Now, I wait for the next 5 months – not vigorously researching all the new off-season acquisitions and minor league prospects, but simply letting my heart heal. Cubs fans everywhere need this off season to process the early exit from the playoffs this year. And then when Spring Training starts up again, I assure you, we’ll all be up and running the campaign for “this is the year!”

Cubs fans are hopeless optimists at heart. We believe the unbelievable. We see what is unseen. And it’s often at the attack of our ability to be realistic. But if you’re a Cubs fan, you know that without a hopeless optimism, you couldn’t swallow years like this. I love Baseball and I love the Cubs – always have and always will.

The Korean Men’s Baseball team completed a 9-0 unbeaten Olympic season as Gold Medal winners. I’m so proud of my Korean brothers for beating the baseball giant, Cuba!

What triggered this post though was this picture to the left. It’s such a great picture of what it looks like when we encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ.

I was having a conversation with someone the other night and I realized that I lack so much love for my brothers and sisters in Christ that I’m not able to cheer them on or affirm them enough. I find myself in such a self-promoting positioning match with those around me that I’m not able to take a glance and see what amazing things God is doing in another person’s life and just praise God for it. I’m so blinded by my own pride that I’m not able to revel in the awesome things God is doing in another person’s life. In all, I’m so me-centered.

But when we remain Christ-centered, I believe we can be the greatest cheerleaders (i mean that in the most testosterone-filled way possible). If we were Christ-centered, we could joyfully sit on the sidelines and cheer our other brothers and sisters that are getting the playing time when we’re not. And instead of becoming Jealous or Competitive, we’d be able to revel in our brother’s glory. This is what a Christ-centered life looks like. We’re able to praise God for what others have done, not merely for what we’ve done.

So what I see in this picture is a glimpse of this godly (manly) cheerleading. I see a group of men, tossing their coach high in the air, praising his efforts and affirming him greatly for the great work he’s done. No one in that group is smitten because he’s not the one being tossed in the air. Collectively, their all joining in together to praise this coach for a job well done. And imagine the feeling this coach is experiencing at this moment. He feels supported, loved, acknowedged, and completely care-free. I think we need more of that in the Christian brotherhood.

I know I’m late on the train, but for those of you who haven’t yet read this testimony, I encourage you highly to take a moment and read it. It’ll help you see that hope is never drowned in darkness.

Josh Hamilton is a baseball player, currently playing for the Texas Rangers. But more importantly, he’s a child of God, who once battled the addictions of crack and alcohol. He may be a beam of light to some and to others a savior, but he know who his real savior is, Jesus Christ.

Excerpts:

• How am I here? I can only shrug and say, “It’s a God thing.” It’s the only possible explanation. There’s a reason my prayers weren’t answered during those dark, messed-up nights I spent scared out of my mind. There’s a reason I have this blessed and unexpected opportunity to play baseball and tell people my story.

• To me, the lesson was obvious: Alone, I couldn’t win this battle. With Jesus, I couldn’t lose.

• And on this particular night, a little boy of about 9 or 10, wearing a Reds cap, handed me a pen and something to sign. Nothing unusual there, but as I was writing the boy said, “Josh, you’re my savior.” This stopped me. I looked at him and said, “Well, thank you. Do you know who my savior is?” He thought for a minute. I could see the gears turning. Finally, he smiled and blurted out, “Jesus Christ.” He said it like he’d just come up with the answer to a test. “That’s exactly right,” I said.

Josh Hamilton Testimony Here

• According to Scott Miller of CBS Sportsline, there’s going to be a Tiger and Cub pitted against one another in the ’ship. Sports Illustrated believes the same.

• According to Erik Karabell of Fantasy Sports fame, it’s going to be a match between the cursed, Cubs vs. Red Sox.

• ESPN the Magazine published that the Indians would meet the Cubs in that elusive series.

• And in a general consensus, the Cubs are picked as favorites to win the NL Central.

Every year, there seems to be similar expectation from this team. Every year, they have new off-season acquisitions that will change the outcome of their previous year’s letdown. Every year, they have questions about the starting rotation and the dependability of their bullpen. Every year, the pundits pick them to succeed, but without fail, every year the Cubs have stumbled far short of their intended goals and have left their faithful fans with that all too familiar taste in their mouth. If losing was a candy, it’d be sour jawbreaker.

But why do I believe all the hype this year? Well, simply because I’m a cubs fan. I’ve bought the hype every year. But something in my blue & red blood tells me that this year’s not just hype. Something in my heart of hearts (all cubs fans are born with two hearts, in the case they blow a game in the ninth) tells me that this year’s going to be different. Again, it could just be that good ol’ north side optimism. But the spirit of Harry Carey tells me this is it. And c’mon, 100 years without a world series trophy to hold? Records are meant to be broken, right? Don’t curses only last for a 100 years?

Let’s just put it simply: Opening day is tomorrow and for Cubs fans, this means it’s the beginning of the end. We’re sick of the billy goat. We’re sick of the curse. We’re sick of “close enough”. We’re sick of “maybe next year”. We want October baseball under the lights. We want the ivy at Wrigley to glitter with champagne sparkles. We want those special 2008 World Series balls hitting the streets on Waveland and Ashland. We want a ring ceremony to begin our 2009 Season. We want to be champions again. Is this the year we can change all that? Yes, we can!