Monday Morning Manna: Rub it Off and Play Ball!

I was in the Emergency Room Waiting Area, waiting on the arrival of a friend from the church where I was serving as Interim Pastor, when a young mother brought her screaming child in the room. The frightened child was yelling loud enough to be heard three floors up – “I OK, I OK, No owie! No owie!” Other than being temporarily deafened, I survived the experience with only a ministerial application. How many times have I hurt, yet still screamed to my listening world, “I OK! No owie!” Is it pride that keeps me from admitting pain? Or is it fear that others will think less of me if I share my owie? Perhaps it is the memory of a baseball coach of long ago responding to every injury with, “Rub it off and play ball!” What was it, that allowed Paul to admit, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)? I really hope the little girl calmed down long enough to admit her pain and get relief. Me? Honestly, some days, I not OK, I owie! I’d like to be more like Paul, and acknowledge my hurts while assuring every one that I’m not yet “crushed” or “destroyed.” At the very least, I’d like to make my old coach proud and just “rub it off and play ball!” How about you?

Dr. Dan Crawford, Senior Professor at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, is the WestCoast Baptist Association’s Spiritual Life & Leadership Mentor. Follow Dan on Twitter @DrDanRC and Facebook www.facebook.com/dan.crawford.