Baseball, Heaven and The Big Man

Two favorite leisure activities of mine are watching Baseball games and listening to music. It shouldn’t be done in unison because both require a certain level of attentiveness. This past week I was subjected to a spiritual encounter with both diversions as they related to my faith and our time remaining in life. Provocative stuff!

The first involves Baseball.

In the midst of living in LA, a bright spot emerges in not only the viewing, but the listening of Baseball games on TV, because we have maybe the greatest announcer and commentator the sports world has known in Vin Scully. He has spent the last 60 years of his life as the voice of the Dodgers, speaking over the airwaves in his familiar melodic way as the "voice of summer" for legions of baseball fans over the years. Vin has a knack for spinning folksy yarns about men who play and manage in the arena of America's national pastime.

So of course I was listening more attentively than watching because I love how Vin fills the dead time between pitches with stories of people's lives. He was relating a story about the Detroit Tigers Manager, Jim Leyland, a very accomplished baseball man in his own right. As only Vin can tell it, Jim has a brother who is a Catholic priest. Some reporter, surprised to learn that fact about the colorful manager, asked Leyland what one question he would ask God if given the opportunity.

Supposedly Mr. Leyland responded with "Can I get in?” Vin Scully, who on occasion will subtlety reveal his love of God and country, thought that was a most pertinent and thoughtful question… Leyland really hit it out of the park, so to speak. It seemed obvious to Vin that Mr. Leyland was more concerned with eternity than winning baseball games... a noble concern indeed -- considering the "life and death" aspect of our win at all cost culture. While it pains me to say it, in the context of Heaven, it really is "only" a game.

As a Christian, my first thought was that yes, you can humbly ask God to let you in to Heaven but what if He also asks you Why He should let you in. What will you say? Would you know the right answer? You can know. You can be fully assured of entry (eternal salvation in Christian parlance) while you are still living and serving Him on Planet Earth.

God has provided a clear path through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ almost 2000 years ago. That is no secret! Skipper Jim needs to speak with his brother, the priest, who should be able to explain this. Of course I didn’t get it either after attending twelve years of Catholic school and serving as an altar boy during Mass. It only took me 42 years to finally get it.

The New Testament book of Romans states:
"If you confess with your mouth--Jesus is Lord--and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved". (Romans 10-9)

That is the wonderful message of the Gospel. We don't need to guess and worry while standing or kneeling at Heaven’s Gate.

Sure, there is always some doubt involved because of our mortal minds and fear of the unknown. That is where faith comes in. Be assured that our only hope in this world is accepting Christ as our Savior... the Bible is very clear in that there is only one way.

John 14:6 makes it plain -- "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me."

This is not a suggestion but a fundamental tenet of the Christian Faith, a clear command to followers of Christ. Rejection of this fact will not just bear the burden of a wrong choice -- but the dire consequences of, dare I say, eternal condemnation.

In another pointed example of life, death and Heaven, I turn to the world of Entertainment and the passing of a rock & roll icon, Clarence Clemons, "The Big Man" and saxophone player for Bruce Springsteen's E-Street band.

I was not quite twenty years old when they arrived on the rock scene straight out of New Jersey, my neighbor state and a suspension bridge away from my hometown of Philadelphia.

The Springsteen- led band tapped in to the east coast urban experience like no other, with their brand of high energy roots- oriented rock coupled with rhythmical lyrics that captured our working class existence, young-adult angst and quest for life’s purpose… themes that were covered in the Bible – if I had bothered to look (I didn’t own one). But Rock Music and its lifestyle seemed to be my generation’s religion.

This time, it wasn't Vin Scully's soothing voice that resonated in my ear but the outpouring of devotion and comments on Facebook, our social networking tool of communication lacking the eloquence of a world class human voice, like Scully’s.

Most of the posts were claims that the Big Man was now in a better place -- assuming Heaven. He just had to be, right? Why, he brought such joy to the legions of E-Street fans everywhere around the world with his masterful saxophone-playing talent, booming voice and larger-than-life demeanor (after all he was 6'6'' and weighed maybe 275).

I obviously didn't know Clarence Clemons personally or much about his spiritual life. Only God knows his heart and whether he accepted Jesus Christ... although he was the son of a minister so he was without excuse. But I do know that the same standard applies for The Big Man as it does for all of us in regards to eternal life with God in the masterpiece that is Heaven. That standard is not whether you brought joy to many lives using the talent God gave you; a noble cause indeed, but one that falls short of God’s glory. Christ didn’t shed his blood to make us happy, but holy. Our gift of salvation may be free but it didn’t come cheap.

There were countless well wishers who posted the phrase 'RIP Big Man'. My hope is that he and all of our loved ones are resting in peace because that is what God has promised to all who turn to Him.

Again one only needs to look not at rock lyrics but to God's word in the Bible;

1 Corinthians 2:9, it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him".

Let’s all decide today to take the steps to assurance of knowing where we will spend eternity. We don't have to sheepishly ask God "Can I get in" as Manager Jim Leyland alluded to. He has already revealed that to us by offering His Son. There are no works or activities that we can perform that are worthy enough to bring us salvation and entry into Heaven.

Playing baseball and making the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown won’t do it; Playing the saxophone for an iconic Rock band and making the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland won’t do it either. Both are lofty achievements but comes with no cigar--no championship in the spiritual realm.

It is really up to each of us to accept or reject this free gift of grace and salvation and eternity in Heaven with God. Renowned missionary Jim Elliot may have explained our predicament best prior to his death on a mission trip to Central America "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

No day is promised! We can be sure of that... but let's also be sure of what God has promised. And yes, He continues to speak to us (at least to me) through many secular avenues in life, Baseball and popular music among them... and maybe more importantly through the life and death of those we admire.

Weinergate Go Away

Weinergate Go Away

There is nothing else we would rather do with Wienergate than get over it! Maybe by the time this reaches print, Anthony Wiener will have resigned and we can all move on. Until then, it raises too many legal, moral, ethical and political questions, which need to be dealt with.

Anthony Wiener is one more name to be added to a growing list of political contemporaries (Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Edwards among the recently anointed) who have paid a huge price for believing their actions wouldn’t get noticed. Some people (writers, bloggers etc) even go so far as to ask “whether we should even care”. After all it’s only sex… the same battle cry we heard about President Clinton’s now famous tryst with an intern named Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. I’m afraid too many Americans share the same sentiment when responding to sexual misconduct – ‘Whatever’... Sex is somehow a no accountability zone.

Why some in the media cannot bring themselves to admit the immoral, unethical and (in some cases) illegal actions are simply reckless and irresponsible behavior is baffling. Isn't habitual lying and abuse of power a big deal? That goes for the countless other members of a rogues gallery of leading men conducting themselves inappropriately. People seem to justify bad behavior by referring to previous bad behavior, even if it involves our much admired Founding Fathers or our beloved JFK. In their argument, the ends justify the means.

Do President Kennedy’s extra marital affairs deserve a pass because he successfully handled the Cuban Missile crisis? Does President Clinton have a license to cheat and lie, since after all, the economy was the most robust in modern times? (I tend to think our strong economy was the result of the media attention, and lawyers keeping Clinton focused on his personal struggles lest he interfere with the hi-tech boom of the 90’s … but let’s not digress).

So do Congressman Weiner’s juvenile actions with multiple women somehow slip by because a majority of his constituents and apologists give him a passing grade? It was with disbelief that I read a local writer express in print an immensely hyped up notion of Mr. Weiner turning out to be the “political savior of the 21st Century” by “being instrumental in rescuing the economy and bringing peace to the Middle East”. Mr. Weiner is merely a liberal US Congressman with a liberal district in Queens, New York, and by most accounts an unrestrained mouthpiece for the liberal Democrats. In his best day he may fit the modest description of the Mouse (or Mouth) that Roared.

These scandals, including the celebrated nature of Clinton’s lascivious legacy, indeed tell us-- in a way few events can-- where we are in our public philosophy. They reveal insights into how we view politics and power; virtue and vice; public trust; respect for the law; sexual morality and standards of personal conduct.
Many Americans (myself included) have an intuitive understanding that something is deeply troubling about this conduct and the defenses offered by certain supporters. Do we really want this caliber of elected official? Do we want our sons and daughters to equate “sexting” his private parts to unfamiliar women a pardonable offense for a US Congressman? Even the President and Democratic leaders in the House, like former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, are calling for him to step down, their concerns perhaps more political than moral.

If Mr. Weiner were a high ranking employee of most any company, public or private operating today, he would be fired for this conduct (many employees have been terminated for far less). It is noteworthy that our business leaders with all their ethical shortcomings may have a higher moral code than our elected government officials. Congressman Weiner needs to quit being a selfish distraction on our political discourse. There are serious and challenging issues facing our country and its citizens. Weinergate needs proper closure, not excuses.

Posted by Michael Parente at 7:29 AM Email This
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