REFLECTIONS

Profound Lessons

My memory is fuzzy in that year of my life, after all, I wasn’t yet five years old the summer of the World War II offensive that we know as D-Day. But I remember this one.

On this occasion, some of my parents’ friends were home on furlough from military service. I remember them gathered in our backyard for a picnic style afternoon. I especially remember J.P. decked out in full navy dress with the distinctive sailors’ cap resting atop his balding head. He enjoyed the company of my mom and dad and the other friends, but he also found time for me.

I remember well how he took me to the front yard, a ball and sawed-off broomstick in hand. He placed the stick in my hands and positioned me in the stance a batter should take. Then he stepped back and softly tossed the ball to me and cheered me to swing at it. I had never done that before. We practiced and practiced until I hit the ball. I didn’t want to quit.

Now there seems to be no profound lessons from J.P.’s coaching. It didn’t lead me to become a professional ball player or make me smarter or stronger. And there was nothing exceptional about J.P.’s coaching style either. He simply took time with a young boy to teach him a little about how to play baseball. Except for a snapshot of J.P. kneeling behind me, the broomstick in my hand, the event went unnoticed. But I noticed.

That day J.P. became one of many heroes who brought joy to my life. The joy from that baseball lesson still lingers long after J.P. departed this world. I have relived that memory many times through the years, and each time helps me understand how profound his lesson was that day; and the lesson had nothing to do with baseball. The lesson taught the value of bringing joy into someone’s life.

The lesson revealed to me how bringing a touch of joy to a life glorifies our loving God. And throughAnd it revealed to me how even a bit of joy can teach profound lessons that linger long after we depart this world.

“You are the light of the world.”

Richard +

www.reflectingthesavior.org

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