The recent days of sunshine and warming weather call the neighborhood kids out to play. There are games that seem to be played by children across the generations. One of those is kickball.
As I walked around the park, the game was about to begin and the kids were choosing sides....sigh...one of the first "how do you measure up" lessons in life.
A few of the kids promptly sat down. Most likely having been through this selection process many times before they knew they were not going to be an early pick and as one said, "Might as well get comfy."
I spent many a spring and summer playing kickball with the neighborhood gang.
Reflecting, there were lessons learned such as in rule-making and claiming the power so to do: "Three fouls and you're out. I called it!"
There were lessons in strategy: "Kick it to Lisa, she won't catch it."
And, sadly, there were lessons in clue-less, competitive cruelty: "Yinz have to take Scott, cause we had him yesterday and it's your turn."
Could it be we learned these lessons too well and have carried them into communities and congregations deciding in ways blatant and more nuanced who we want in, who we choose to invite, include and involve, who we discard, who we never give a second look.
Some may roll their eyes and say, it was just a kids kickball game, you've gone way off with this one.
Perhaps.
Yet, I am reminded of this line from the film MY GIRL as Vada, when asked what she knows of heaven. responds, "In heaven when you play sports there's no teams, so nobody gets picked last."
No comments:
Post a Comment