Fear not:  I am not going to blog about baseball, really.

I was thinking about baseball because we have had a guest in the house who played baseball in college and a bit in the minors.  In the course of our conversation he was laughing about his “baseball” ways of organizing life.  They include doing things in the same way every time in order to insure great performance.  Magical thinking and the power of ritual continue to ground his behavior.  He had pre game rituals and activities that were comfort to him as he courted success.  Years after leaving the field, he employs them yet.

We’re all the same way, aren’t we?  I was laughing to myself about that as I was setting myself up to write Sunday’s sermon.  I have my own baseball ways.  I love to collect my materials:  Bibles, commentaries, bulletin, pencils and my lap top.  I park myself in my thinking spot on the couch and savor the gift of reading and thinking and imagining what the text might have to say about living in these days.  I can write sermons in other places and other ways, but my sense of being held by my rituals makes me less anxious about whether the sermonic muse will deign to visit.

And I pray.  Crafting sermons is humbling, terrifying, and so very important.  I am never without awareness that the Word is so very alive and so desirous of heart dance.  I welcome the encounter as I seek to bring scripture to voice.  I am never done learning, that is for sure.  Weekly sermon crafting keeps me grounded and sniffing the air always for the showings of the Holy.

Not a bad lot, that.  So as I settle in to write, I give thanks for the chance to pander to my baseball ways.  The couch is strewn with books, the Word awaits, and I have time to be present.

I think I did everything right…