My husband and I enjoy watching professional baseball. This year, we were blessed to attend Spring Training in Goodyear Arizona and we met one of our favorite pitchers. He was staying at our hotel and we met his wife and youngest son relaxing in an outdoor area. This pitcher is a father of five children and is an active Catholic. It was fun to see him interact with his wife and youngest son in a casual setting. He spoke with my husband at length and I was impressed with his kindness and humility. We are so used to seeing him on television that it’s easy to forget that he is a regular guy just like the rest of us.
Recently this same pitcher, at the age of 32, announced that he was diagnosed with Leukemia. His version of this disease is treatable with oral medication, but he’ll be out of baseball for a while. We all deal with family and friends being diagnosed with disease, and facing other hardships, but it still comes as a shock that rocks our world almost as if it’s happening to ourselves. It reminds me how much we are all connected, that we need to pray for each other, and that we should give thanks every single day.
This pitcher makes millions, but money can’t cure this disease for him. Just like the rest of us, he’ll pray, do what his doctors advise, and rely on faith, family and friends to persevere in this challenging time.
I’m sharing this story with you because I think sometimes, even for those of us with strong faith, we can get drawn into things of this world in a way that can separate us from God. I’m not saying the pitcher did this, but his situation really made me think about how money, fame and comfort (at any level) are fleeting, and that we should give thanks to God because it all comes from him.
I am also struck by the fact that this pitcher is a professional athlete who is in top physical condition, spends hours every day addressing his physical health by eating right, training, practicing and doing everything a multitude of coaches tell him to do, but he has no control over his body when it comes to this disease. Our culture places more emphasis on caring for the body than caring for the soul, so when a physical hardship hits, I consider it a blessing that if, by God’s grace, we are made humble and seek a greater reliance on God.
This pitcher has the potential to be an amazing example for us with his public platform. Surrounded by his teammates at the 2019 All Star game he was crying and I was too. Our adult son texted us that he watched and he was moved to tears. It is easy to take our good fortune for granted — whatever it might be — but it can change in an instant. Perhaps God is using this man’s situation to soften our hearts, to harken us to pray more, to move us forward in our mission, and to remind us to let go of material concerns that can drive us away from God.
May we never forget that we are here to live out our God-given mission, to care for those people God has placed in our path, and with great detachment, to enjoy some of what God has created on our journey home to him. The material comforts are a gift, but they do not define us; let us give thanks that we are all children of God.