Sometimes you’re the Louisville Slugger … (or the bug)

Sometimes you're the windshield
Sometimes you're the bug
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're a fool in love
Sometimes you're the Louisville slugger
Sometimes you're the ball
Sometimes it all comes together baby
Sometimes you're going to lose it all

It's just about that time -
World Series
for those of you that are into baseball.

Actually, it was just about that time when I first wrote this.  Now, at the time of this major update, it's still a couple months off.

I'm not, but I couldn't help thinking about it when I just heard the song from which the lyrics above are taken -

It's amazing where God can be found. 
Even in The Bug  - by Dire Straits

There is something else that made me think of them.  It happens a lot when I hear the song.

It's got to do with whether it's better to be

• the windshield or the bug

• the Louisville Slugger or the ball.

Given that a Home Run ball can be quite valuable if it's from the right person / the right time - maybe that one's not so obvious.

But it's probably easier to get your attention than using Sometimes you're the windshield as my title.
Seriously - would you have been as likely to even take a look?

Obviously though - being the windshield is a whole lot better than being the bug.
And with that frame of mind - being the Louisville Slugger would be better than being the ball.

Or is it?

And that's what really "drove" me to write this.  (Pun intended.)

I actually wrote the original version of this is September 2016.  So much has changed since then.  For instance, there was an event in the spring of 2017 that really forced me to make a decision about my faith.  Like possibly a last / final chance to decide whether I wanted to just "go home" (that's die in Christian-speak), or continue living and do something more for God.  I left the decision up to Him.  You can read about that in God – is it time for me to go home? 

Obviously, I'm still alive.  And as you'll see, it's had a huge impact on what those lines above mean to me.  I'm just going through some older stuff I wrote - updating some formatting and making them more acceptable to Google search.  But this one.  This one needs a rewrite.  I'll leave the original, but put everything new in brown text like this so you can identify it.

Sometimes you're the Louisville Slugger ...

I was working on another project when I came across some verses from James.  That was just before the song came up on iTunes on my PC.
Verses that I know in my head are important.
But ones my heart doesn't like to be reminded of.  (I know - that's not good grammar, but it's what most people would say)

I no longer mind the verses below.  Without getting ahead of myself, I'll just say that the hospital experience I mentioned also led me to experience, if not outright understand, the passage below.

Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Yeah - I actually did that.  Even while being in the hospital with pneumonia and kidneys that were in big trouble.    I can't begin to explain it.  I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if many people don't believe it.  All I can say is that it really happened.  Even though even the sight of a doctor scares me.  My doctor told me afterward that I "beat the reaper".

Trials and Temptations

Jas 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

Sure.  That bug is rejoicing as the windshield all of a sudden shows up at 65 miles per hour, crushing it before it has a chance to do anything.

And the baseball?  Thrown at upwards of 100 miles per hour?  BTW - hard to believe the ball goes faster than a car on the freeway, isn't it?  But the poor ball.  While it doesn't go splat like the bug, it does get temporarily flattened a bit from the impact.

And as people, we're supposed to feel joy?

I never did before.  I used to wonder why I never felt this so-called Christian joy.  Or the Christian peace.  Now, I don't wonder anymore.  It's amazing.  So counter-intuitive.  And yet, so amazing.