The Box Score

Baseball is called America’s Past-Time. I must admit that I have really gotten into the Texas Rangers this season. They have been a fun team to watch both on and off the field. The whole “claw” and “antler” thing has give the team and their fans some added fun, but you have to know that all that would not be fun if they were not winning. Time will tell just how good this team really is this year. Baseball is an interesting sport. I don’t know of any other sport that keeps track of statistics the way they do in baseball. The important stat is the win loss record, which for the Ranger this year was 90-72. The game of baseball seems to keep track of everything from the number of At Bats, Runs, Hits, doubles, triples, HR, TB, BB, SO, SB, CS, OBD, SLG and of course the Batting AVG. Then they go further by tracking how well a particular player hits against a certain pitcher while runners are in scoring positions in the bottom of the 9th inning during a day game in the month of September. Yes, they really have those stats and the amazing thing to me is that someone gets paid to keep all those stats. Baseball is America’s Past-Time.

I wonder what it would be like if all of our life was tracked in the same way every detail of baseball is tracked. If we knew how often a salesman made a successful sale on a Monday morning after the Dallas Cowboys won their game on Sunday while the salesman wore his black pants, blue shirt and silver tie? Or if we knew how many times we said things we should not say while driving in traffic during rush hour while being 20 minutes late to work? Or what if all the interactions between our spouse and children were tracked and everyone knew when we acted nice or when we lost our temper or our patience or when we gave our wife flowers. What if all of your life what tracked and posted for everyone to read? The question is would that matter to you? Would it change the way you interacted with your spouse and your children? Would it change the way you acted in traffic or other challenging situations?

Well, to some degree those things are tracked by others. Your spouse and children know what your record is and the people in the grocery store sure know about your personality. And people do get to witness how you drive every morning and afternoon and you can be sure that if it is note worthy someone is telling a story about you.

You and I are called to live our life differently than those around us in this world. We are called to be “lights in a world of darkness”. We are called to make a difference in this world that will change the lives of others forever. So this is a gentle reminder for you and me that people are watching and some of them are keeping score.

Love God. Go Love Others.