As a fifty year old San Francisco Giants fan, winning the World Series of 2010 was a first time experience for me. I became a fan because my Dad was and have since passed on the love of baseball and of the Giants to my son. Watching a championship for my team was not new to me however. As a fan of the Montreal Canadiens it seemed as though I got to watch them win the Stanley Cup every year growing up. Even the NY Football Giants have now captured three Super Bowl titles. As thrilling as each of these victories were, I always assumed they would pale when compared to a San Francisco World Series championship. You see, I follow hockey and football and can even get a little loud when watching, just ask my wife. But my passion has always been with baseball . I so appreciate its history and can match statistical know-how with anyone I know. I began to anticipate as the innings counted down this past Monday. What was it going to feel like? What emotions were going to sweep over me? I thought about all the years of hoping and waiting and some of the great players I had enjoyed watching like Mays, Marichal and McCovey. I remembered how each year would end in disappointment, some more painful than others like 2002 for example. Finally, strike three comes for the final out and the Giants are World Champs. All those years of waiting are now over and as I watched the post-game coverage with my son all I could say was it hasn't sunk in yet. Other than a deep feeling of satisfaction, I could not put my finger on anything else as far as my feelings went. Maybe tomorrow, I told Kenny. Maybe after I've had more time to process this great event I'll be better able to articulate what this wonderful post season has meant to me. Tomorrow came and went as did Wednesday and still no great awakening. On Thursday it finally happened. The wonderfully simple yet fantastically deep truth came to me. It happen as I watched a fan of the Giants being interviewed after the victory parade. She too had been a longtime devotee. When asked what she was feeling she replied, "I feel as if a whole in my heart as been completely healed." There it is I exclaimed, that's the feeling. The only difference being that I felt that very same feeling over 19 years ago. It was then, in the earliest stages of recovery(more on that another time) that I came to believe that the Power greater than myself that AA talks about was in fact Jesus Christ. The living Son of God had reached out His hand and offered me the way out of darkness into His marvelous light. It was at that moment that I felt the emptiness in my heart being healed. In those 19 years hence, some of that I awe and wonder I felt then had been worn away. The cares and struggles of day to day life had taken some of the newness away. It wasn't until I saw that teary eyed Giants fan that the fullness and joy of my salvation came back to me. I received God's gentle reminder that He and His work are ever present and no amount of life's defeats or baseball victories can overcome this great truth.
I close these opening thoughts with an invitation. To those of you who Jesus as Savior I invite you to go back to your humble beginnings and consider again what an awesome God he is. Ask Him to help you freshen your relationship with Him and to make you fully pliable in His hands again. To those of you who don't know Jesus as Savior I invite you to take a look over your life. It's highs and lows, wins and losses. Consider the times of fulfillment and times of despair. Now honestly look inward and see if there isn't a whole in your heart that nothing seems to fill and if you feel it, won't you consider Jesus. Seek Him out, He may well be that long hoped for something you've been waiting for.
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