Week of 1 Advent, Thursday

I woke up really early this morning in my hotel room in Little Rock, and I couldn't concentrate on the newspaper, so I turned on the TV and got hooked by a movie on HBO. Summer Catch is a local boy-meets-rich girl, has a chance to play baseball in front of Major League scouts, nearly blows it, but learns valuable life lessons from his hometown friends kind of movie.

There's stupid teenage humor, but there's also a lot of heart. Our hero is discouraged, thinking he'll fail in front of the scouts, but his best friend tells him, "You think you're a failure? To me, you've already made it! I've never missed a game all these years ... I'm proud of everything you've done!"

Two thousand years ago and more, people who were discouraged needed to hear the same reassurance as we do today. The psalmist sings, "He rescued me because he delighted in me." Paul asks his young church in Thessalonika, "How can we thank God enough for you in return for all of the joy that we feel before our God because of you?"

In the movie, our hero's realization that he loves the girl is the key to his finally embracing success as a ballplayer. It sounds Hollywood when it involves Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Jessica Biel, but we Christians testify to the same dynamic between us and God. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," Paul tells another of his churches in Rome. Today in Morning Prayer, we asked God "in whom we live, and move, and have our being," to help us "remember that we are ever walking in [his] sight."

What could you accomplish -- in front of your boss, and your peers, and your neighbors, and your family,  and Major League scouts and everyone -- if you knew (and believed) that you were loved and cherished by One who wants you to succeed?

Play ball!