When a rookie
baseball player makes his Major League debut it is worth the watch. Hitters can dazzle with a first-ever swing
for a home run. Fielders can make a
highlight reel play. But the MLB debut
of a pitcher is really special. No
opposing hitter has yet seen his ‘stuff’, giving him little extra
advantage. But the nerves can get to the
most hardened of players. Which is why
the advice given to Freddy Peralta by his Milwaukee Brewers Pitching Coach is
priceless. Freddy describes his coach’s counsel like this:
"The pitching coach just told me to smile,
breathe and pitch. So that was what I did." -- Peralta
Freddy Peralta,
21 years young, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of his 2018 debut and
along the way he tallied 13 strikeouts. That is not good. It is great. It is
elite-level pitching. Only five
pitchers since 1908 (110 years!) have struck out at least 13 batters in a first
start. See what happens when you apply the coach’s advice to your God-given
talent?
As I listen to
people relate the burdens and challenges of their lives I see that this
coaching advice applies in most scenarios. The next crisis I confront I am
going to try to channel ‘Freddy’ on the mound facing down All-Star hitters. “I
can do this. Smile, breath, pitch; repeat.”
Perhaps Jesus was maybe the first
to give this wise counsel. As he prepared to leave his friends and ascend to
Heaven he told them to wait for the “breath’, the ‘wind’, for the Holy Spirit
to appear. “You can be and build the Church I am leaving you to invent, but
remember to let the Breath enter you first, and then, just breathe.” This is
what Pentecost celebrates.
If you feel like this just
cannot apply to you, then recall the promise that God’s Breath will create and
renew you. (Ps. 104:30) Or sing
the last lines of this song of hope: “Out
of breath, I am left hoping someday I'll breathe again/I'll breathe again, I'll
breathe again, I'll breathe again, I'll breathe again, I'll breathe again, I'll
breathe again” (Breath Again Songwriters: Sara Bareilles Breathe Again lyrics ©
Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC)
Let the Breath enter you and
you will conquer your opponent, you will achieve the victory. Just smile, breathe, pitch.
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