In the aftermath of last week's tumult, I did a beautiful thing over the weekend. I watched live baseball! The Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays played for their division championship at their brand new ball park, complete with fold-down seats and a digital score board.
Under normal circumstances, baseball is a spiritual thing for me. After all, the game is about being safe and making it home. It is played in a "park" on a field of green and it has a Trinitarian formula. Perhaps more importantly, baseball is played right smack dab in the middle of a city, reminding us that we can gather as community with the same aspirations, the same dreams of home. However, this week the game seemed to assume even more importance.
One of the most symbolic descriptions of what has happened to us as a city this past week was seeing the Orioles play in an empty stadium. Consequently, to be able to sit together with folks rooting for opposite teams in a full stadium bathed in sunlight and watch a well-played baseball game was a hopeful gift. And, it was free! The fact that the Blue Jays won was almost incidental.
Because The Baltimore Sun continues to ignore college baseball in this town, there was no mention of this good news in Baltimore this weekend, and that is too bad!
Christa Fuller Burns, Baltimore
The writer is pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church.