Wayne Weekly “For the Sport of It”

I am not a sports geek. Is not that I don’t like sports, or the thrill of the game for that matter. I just don’t follow a team whether football, or baseball, basketball…not even curling! My time to get on board with a team is generally during the Super Bowl or the World Series. Then, even at that, if the team isn’t from NY, I generally go in half-heartedly.

During my youth I played for a few years on a Little League baseball team, and that’s because my Dad was a manager. Now my older brother Greg, he was a good ball player, a pitcher. I was generally put out in left field. I was a pretty small guy. You should know that when I was up to bat, the opposing team took giant steps toward home plate. My career in baseball was short lived.

My football career made my baseball career look promising! I recall that we had a football uniform at home. I have no clue where it came from. It had the jersey, shoulder pads, pants with sewn in guards, and a helmet of course. I would occasionally put the uniform on and run around in the front yard with my football. I think I was able to acquire some grass stains on the outfit…which was very cool. Of course my team was me, myself, and I. Later I did play tails football in Jr. high school. A little sportier.

Since I was not an athlete, I focused on other past times. I liked building things like non-motorized go-carts. They were just wooden frames with wheels basically. I liked riding bikes, we called that activity “bike hikes”. I liked most of all, running the little radio station in my home. I would broadcast to the neighbors on the AM band. The coverage area was about two blocks.

We all are wired differently. God made us that way. We each have characteristics of God emphasized in different ways. The Word of God points this our very clearly when it comes to spiritual gifts, and also sites outstanding artisans in the Bible. Looking at the construction of the temples we see how God used people with various skills.

Over the years I have come to appreciate the variety of skills found in individuals. As the Apostle Paul points out, we all are a part of the body, and equipped for service in different ways. But we all are to work together as the Lord’s members, working to accomplish God’s will.

My wife has told me that I would have made a good shortstop. Her family have always been a big baseball family, always involved in league sport. Evie’s Dad was a baseball coach for many years. Her brother was given an offer by a pro-ball scout as a catcher. So I’m thinking Evie should know. Maybe I missed out on a major joy in my life. Oh, well.

At my age now, I guess I will never change careers. I’ve scored my best in Christian radio ministry, but not without some foul balls, errors, and strike outs. Those are just part of the game. I’ve had a few homers, caught a few fly balls, tagged a few players, but all in all I persevered.

Someday, I hope my Coach will say, “Well done good and faithful team member…enter in to the Heavenly Hall of Fame.”

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts, ^[b] yet one body.                                            I Corinthians 12:14-20