C.S. Lewis, Baseball and Faith.
For as long as I can remember, I was a San Francisco Giants fan. More so than any other Bay Area sports team, including the 49ers, the black and orange of the Giants has taken root deep in my soul. From the bright orange road jerseys of the 1978 team with manager Joe Altobelli, to the 1981 and 1982 Frank Robinson teams (especially the 1982 team that gave the NL West to the Braves), the 1985 team that lost 100 games, the resurgence in the late 80s with Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell and Jeffrey “One Flap Down” Leonard, the near-move to Tampa in 1992, the signing of Barry Bonds in 1993, and the ill-fated 2002 World Series, the black and orange have been a large part of my life from childhood to adulthood. The Giants have been the team by which I choose to enjoy the game of baseball.
If baseball is a house complete with a large hallway with many rooms, I found myself in the hallway knocking on the door that led to the Giants. Some of you found doors that led to the Cardinals, or the Athletics, or the Pirates, or the Cubs. And others of you who I would deem to be a bit misguided knocked on the doors of the Yankees or (gasp) the Dodgers.
Each door, however, leads to a variation on the same theme…baseball. We’ve merely chosen to enjoy the game from a slightly different perspective - with different “laundry” as Jerry Seinfeld would say.
Our Christian lives are no different.
It (mere Christianity) is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meal. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable. It is true that some people may find they have to wait in the hall for a considerable time, while others feel certain almost at once which door they must knock at. I do not know why there is this difference, but I am sure God keeps no one waiting unless He sees that it is good for him to wait. When you do get into your room you will find that the long wait has done you some kind of good which you would not have had otherwise….
…When you have reached your own room, be kind to those who have chosen different doors and to those who are still in the hall. If they are wrong they need your prayers all the more; and if they are your enemies, then you are under orders to pray for them. That is one of the rules common to the whole house.
C.S. Lewis, from the Preface to Mere Christianity
Hmmm.
I guess Dodger fans need my prayers all the more. ;-)
2 Responses to “C.S. Lewis, Baseball and Faith.”
Other Links to this Post
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
By Will Robison, June 15, 2009 @ 8:27 am
Doesn’t the door for the Dodgers lead to the outhouse out back? ;)
Okay, that wasn’t very Christian of me.
Great post, dude.
By Andy, June 15, 2009 @ 8:51 am
..the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable…
I guess it’s better to choose the Dodgers than not to be a fan at all…