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Opening Day and the Long Season of Life

March 28, 2019 by
Opening Day and the Long Season of Life

Baseball Opening day.  Few phrases produce in my heart a greater sense of longing, anticipation and excitement. 

In early spring 2001, I was a young, soon-to-be college graduate, embarking on my first career, as a play-by-play broadcaster in Minor League Baseball.  For me, opening day represented the culmination, not only of a long winter of moving; settling into a new community; learning a new job; and making new friends, but of a many years of working toward a moment I never thought would come.  Yet, on that cool spring evening in Macon, GA, with my stomach twisted in knots and a future Major League superstar on the mound, opening day finally came. 

But the truth about baseball opening day, with all its pageantry and excitement, is that it gives way to a long season, marked by hot days, long nights, unexpected thunderstorms, and hours of unnoticed, unseen work.  Periodically a walk-off homerun, a no-hitter, or a stadium packed with thousands of fans eagerly looking forward to the post-game fireworks breaks through as a reminder – this is really great!

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Standing at the Crossroads of Life’s Transitions

March 8, 2019 by
Standing at the Crossroads of Life’s Transitions

It was 2am.  After hours of packing and cleaning, my wife and I sat alone on the floor of our oldest daughter’s nursery, exhausted from a long day, preceded by an even longer week, and something happened that had rarely occurred in our 4-year old marriage – I began to weep.  As I sat in the house we planned and had built, the room we lovingly painted and furnished just over a year prior and considered all that had occurred in three years in our West Virginia home, the excitement of a move to St. Louis was overshadowed by the strange grief of change.  What had at one time been only an unknown future hope was now a package of past memories tenuously stored in our minds and hearts, as we set off on our next adventure.

Three states and six homes later, I’m increasingly aware of the simultaneous grief and joy that lie in the crossroads of life’s many transitions. 

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Signs of Life at the Dawning of Spring

March 1, 2019 by
Signs of Life at the Dawning of Spring

As the calendar flips from February to March, I have noticed that the city of Raleigh has begun showcasing signs of life.  Even on a cold, rainy day like today, the landscape is dotted with the white flowers of pear trees, the first wave of the promise that winter will soon give way to spring.  Soon, the white flowers will give way to green leaves and the dancing of daffodils will not be far behind.  Soon, daylight will hang on a little longer until one day I’ll look at the clock on my phone and see that the sun remains at 8pm.  Soon, the 40 degree days and nights will bow to more consistent warm temperatures.  Soon, the forest that looked like the death of winter will sing with the new life of spring.

As I look with eager anticipation to the promise of spring, I’m reminded that in many ways, Calvary Presbyterian Church is on the precipice of a new season, the hints of which have been evident for quite some time.  In His mercy, God has been pleased to bless our church with signs of life.

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