Babe Ruth was perhaps the greatest baseball player of all time, but as he got older, babe Ruth had a tough time at the plate and he made lots of errors in the field. There’s this great story about Babe Ruth during his last year of baseball. He had been traded by the Yankees and his new team, the Boston Braves were playing the Cincinnati Reds.
He got up to bat and he struck out. Babe Ruth wasn’t the player he once had been. And as he walked back to the dugout, embarrassed and discouraged, some people in the stands started to boo him. There was a young boy sitting in the front row near the dugout who simply could not take it anymore. He loved Babe Ruth, no matter what.
So he jumped out of his seat, ran to Babe Ruth as he was walking into the dugout and threw his arms around him. Babe Ruth picked the boy up, gave him a big hug and put him back down on the ground. They walked hand in hand back to the dugout. A quietness came over the park. The crowd stopped booing as they remembered all the babe Ruth had done for the game of baseball.
And then they to their feet with cheers and applause. The boy chose to remember Babe Ruth at his best, rather than criticize him at his worst. In one Peter, it says, above all, love each other deeply. ‘cause love covers over a multitude of sins. Today, I hope we remember that our words and actions have the incredible power to live someone’s spirit.
This has been everyday miracles by hope, mindfulness, and prayer.
In the year 1818, a 26-year-old Catholic priest by the name of Joseph Moore was preparing for the Christmas Eve service at his church in the Austrian Alps. And while cleaning up the church in preparation, he found out that his organ had broken. This was not good. I mean, here’s this young guy that is probably new to this church.
If you’ve ever gone through art history class, you’re probably familiar with a painting called The Light of the World. It was painted by the British artist Holman Hunt, and hangs in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. It’s one of the most iconic religious paintings in history. The painting depicts Jesus standing outside of a small, dilapidated cottage.
I was recently listening to the U2 album, all that you Can’t Leave Behind, and I came across a song called Grace. The lyrics say this, grace takes the blame, covers the shame, removes the stain, but once was hurt, but once was friction. What left a mark? No longer stings because grace makes beauty out of ugly things.
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