Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Thorn in the Flesh

I do not think that I am the Apostle Paul, but I understand some more about him these days since my physical health has just hit the toilet. This has been the lost summer with 3 surgical procedures and around 20 tests, and I am a little envious of folks who have really been able to get out and enjoy the fabulous weather that God has blessed us with. I can assure you that I do not have "an Apostle Paul complex;" my wife says that she has never seen me laid lower or more 'impoverished in spirit.'
Three years ago, I was told that I had fairly significant blockage in 4 major arteries around my heart. That affected everything that I do (diet, exercise, stress) or was supposed to affect everything that I do. Now, a new culprit has shown up on the screen -- connective tissue disorder (some form of fibromyalgia). This is my version of Paul's "thorn in the flesh." Long story short and no list of the symptoms -- I can no longer do physically what I want to do when I want to do it. Pain and fatigue are a real deal here.

God has won two battles by allowing in this thorn in. I have a reduced problem with arrogance. As a matter of fact, I am fighting to stay excited about all of the incredible excitement around me. Second, I have been forced to Sabbath. That has always been my most evident sin, and now there are times when I just have to stop and rest.
"To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
2 Corinthians 12:7-10

I have asked in faith that He take this away, but He knows vastly more about what is best for me than I do. May His blessings flow as we seek His will.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Cardinal Culture

This is an interesting day for me. My life has always been very intertwined with baseball and the Cardinals. My first memory of this was in 1963 when my dad, upon hearing that Stan Musial was going to retire, threw me into a car and we got bleachers seats at old Sportsman's Park so that I would see Stan play before he retired. You see that is just kinda what you did in the Gray family. My Grandpa Lester took my dad, Lester Junior, to see Dizzy Dean, and the rest of the Gashouse Gang in the early 30's. My Grandpa Lester played on a traveling team with Mort & Walker Cooper who were the stars of the 42 & 44 World Series champion Cardinals. He claimed they were good buddies, who knows? But, his passion for baseball was ingrained into all the Grays. We were in St. Louis on the weekend that the Cards traded Ernie Brolio to the Cubs for Lou Brock in 1964. We had been to the game the night before and Mike Shannon had thrown a ball from second base and smashed some of the neon lights out of the giant 'A" over the left field bleachers. What an arm -- he must have won a bet! Some of the glass fell on my shirt. Dad wanted to see if this Brock kid was any good, so I saw his first game as a Cardinal. Later in the year, dad wiped out two full beer cups to garner a home run ball by Brock. We almost fought that night; luckily, for those guys the fight did not happen. Lester hit like Roberto Duran. I knew the batting averages of every Cardinal from Bill White to Ken Boyer as the Cards won the WS in 64. Which brings us to 1966 and why this is an emotional day for me. The Grays bought 22 tickets to the 1966 all-Star game at the new Busch Stadium. I just knew that I would be going since there was no bigger baseball fan on the planet. After all, I had emptied my mom's baking flour from the pantry to re-create the batter's box of the new stadium in the yard. A spanking led me to learn about buying some lime at the local Ace Hardware. After all, I had Juan Marichal's leg kick down perfectly, and Carl Yastrezemski's high batting stance, and Luis Tiant's shimmy of the ball as he pitched from the stretch. I could imitate them all. All of a sudden it was announced that one of the adult cousins had made it into town and there wasn't a ticket for any of the kids. Wow! My chest heaved as I tried to look excited for everyone else. I was told, "We promise that the next time the all-Star game comes to St. Louis, we will buy you a great ticket and take you to the game." Well, that was 43 years ago and the promisers are not around. That day is today. The game has finally returned.

The tickets that day were $8 a piece. I had an opportunity to continue the Gray tradition to experience the love of baseball and take Justin today for the cool price of $1400 for the two tickets. That would be dumb. I chose to send someone to Nicaragua to help some people who eat out of garbage bags on top of the city dump instead. I forgive my promisers also -- may they rest in peace!!! I am glad they all got to go before they went. I will be watching on TV! Go Albert! I will cry when they introduce you tonight!