Scripture:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for
his compassions never fail. They are new
every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Most of you may not know this, but I had an illustrious, yet
brief, career in professional baseball. (If you want to stop reading at
this point and tell all your friends about the previous sentence, that is OK
with me.) If you read on, I have to admit that I wasn't a player and
had no special athletic knowledge or skill set. I was more like a
glorified Team Mom. My main duties involved laundry, shoe shining,
cleaning the clubhouse, listening to everyone's problems and generally keeping the
whole team happy. From that experience, I have a lot of great
memories. But at the top of the list is the biggest argument I ever saw
on a baseball field.
We were at home beginning the second game of a series against the Elizabethton Twins. The previous day our Manager had been ejected from the game for arguing a call. Actually, that was unusual as he normally had a fairly easy going demeanor. Now to set the scene, our dugout had a strange layout and our coaches had to stand on the outside nearest home plate in order to see the whole field clearly. I was standing with our Manager and our other two coaches at this spot as the game was about to begin. Just before the first pitch the home plate umpire, who was still angry from the previous day's argument, turned toward us and said, "You abused your privilege yesterday. You won't stand there today. Now get in the dugout."
Our Manager immediately went berserk, like nothing I had ever seen. Between the unique combination of expletives, references to private body parts, and questioning this man's maternal upbringing, the one thing that I heard repeatedly was, "IT'S A NEW DAY." He was ejected rather quickly and ran over to me screaming, "By the time this is over, you will be coaching today because we are all getting tossed over this." Then he ordered the other coaches to follow him back onto the field and take no prisoners. They proceeded to unleash a coordinated assault that was a true Hall of Fame effort. After the dust settled and the nice police officers were called restore order at the ballpark, the game was played.
The funny thing is that as I look back on that day, our Manager had taught me a valuable lesson. The most important concept in his mind that he had to defend at all costs was the idea that today is a NEW DAY. Defending the NEW DAY was worth it all: ejections, fines, suspensions, public embarrassment, etc. He even potentially jeopardized his career at that moment. And all to prove the point that today is a NEW DAY.
We were at home beginning the second game of a series against the Elizabethton Twins. The previous day our Manager had been ejected from the game for arguing a call. Actually, that was unusual as he normally had a fairly easy going demeanor. Now to set the scene, our dugout had a strange layout and our coaches had to stand on the outside nearest home plate in order to see the whole field clearly. I was standing with our Manager and our other two coaches at this spot as the game was about to begin. Just before the first pitch the home plate umpire, who was still angry from the previous day's argument, turned toward us and said, "You abused your privilege yesterday. You won't stand there today. Now get in the dugout."
Our Manager immediately went berserk, like nothing I had ever seen. Between the unique combination of expletives, references to private body parts, and questioning this man's maternal upbringing, the one thing that I heard repeatedly was, "IT'S A NEW DAY." He was ejected rather quickly and ran over to me screaming, "By the time this is over, you will be coaching today because we are all getting tossed over this." Then he ordered the other coaches to follow him back onto the field and take no prisoners. They proceeded to unleash a coordinated assault that was a true Hall of Fame effort. After the dust settled and the nice police officers were called restore order at the ballpark, the game was played.
The funny thing is that as I look back on that day, our Manager had taught me a valuable lesson. The most important concept in his mind that he had to defend at all costs was the idea that today is a NEW DAY. Defending the NEW DAY was worth it all: ejections, fines, suspensions, public embarrassment, etc. He even potentially jeopardized his career at that moment. And all to prove the point that today is a NEW DAY.
I truly believe that of the millions of baseball games that
God has witnessed over the years, that day could possibly be God’s most
enjoyable day at the ballpark.
Every day is a NEW DAY. The slate is wiped clean. Yesterday's 'losses', while they may leave scars, are in the past. Yesterday's 'wins' are important but will only serve as momentum moving forward. One of God’s greatest gifts to us is that each NEW DAY is truly a new beginning.
And we celebrate because on a Sunday about 2000 years ago, a small group of people experienced God’s ultimate new day.
Moe Click
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