The Buckner Day's of Summer

Finding something worth doing

I believe it was around 5 or 6 when my parents were wanting me to pursue some type of activity. Well due to my love of the Power Rangers, I thought “why not karate”. I mean how hard it could be, I had been a Power Ranger like 4 Halloween's in a row. Well how my first interaction with Karate ended, was me crying and wanting to leave. In my defense, I’m totally a wimp, I’m afraid of heights, no idea why. It wouldn’t be until years later where God helped me break out of my shell. 

American's Greatest Pastime

My parents went back to the drawing board with the whole extra-circular activities. My mom brought up baseball. I’d like baseball due to my mom. My mom was from Long Island New York, and was a Mets fan. At this point, I was already into baseball due to the Mets, so I tried it. I’m grateful for this moment in my life because baseball had changed my world. I met a lot of my friends through it but not only that, I was good at it. I loved the game. I started in Pony League (or little league). I learned the basics and it seemed like everything just clicked for me in the game. I went on to actually be a really good player. Yet with all my potential, politics ruined it for me. That’s another story for another day. 

It's not just about the game...

Baseball also taught me one of my greatest strengths at the time: compassion. People may not believe this but I truly want to see the best for others. I loved the game of baseball because it taught me how to be compassionate. Baseball is a game of many possible misfortunes. In an instant you can blow a game, lose a streak, or miss an easy ground ball (Sorry Buckner). In those moments, it’s always good to have someone come alongside you and just be there in the moment. I found that was my gifting. 

Regardless of how good or bad, I always wanted to be there for my team. It was important to me that those guys knew that they were not failures. I believe God used this even though I was unaware it was God. It’s like life. We all go through failures. Some of us have messed up relationships, some of us got into things like drugs that messed us up, and some of us are Philadelphia Eagle fans… just kidding of course. In those moments though, I imagine Jesus just sitting with someone. He wouldn’t be sitting there because he wants to gloat but he wants to sit in the suffering with us. He wants to know that He’s there. He wants us to know He understands. 

God

It’s beautiful when you have these moments of compassion. When you see the person just as you see yourself: someone who needs to be loved. In baseball, it was the guy who just needed to know that he mattered regardless of how he was doing. I loved being that guy. Little did I know that was Jesus using me as an instrument of his grace? Sitting in suffering and loving someone through that suffering speaks highly of the God we serve.