hmmm.....

Hmmm…..

            “I got a whole lot of happy,” that’s what Juan Uribe said when asked how he felt after hitting a sacrifice fly to win the baseball game for the San Francisco Giants last night.  What is remarkable about the play is that Uribe went up to bat with a throbbing left wrist.  An injury had kept him out of the series for the last two games, and he swung with tremendous pain as the ball flew out into left field.  He played through the pain and it brought him success and acclamation.

            Playing through the pain --that’s what I see every Sunday morning as our aging congregation struggles to be faithful.  I count at least ten ninety year olds in our pews each Sunday.  They come on walkers and canes, some even carrying oxygen bottles; but they come.  They persevere because they must.  They don’t give up. They are playing through pain you and I can only imagine.  They persist for many reasons, some because of their commitment to their church and their God; some just because they are stubborn.  But in each case, they inspire the rest of us to carry on and not give up.  And the result?  We all get “a whole lot of happy”.

            Hmmm…..