100 Years
By The Rev. Susan Russell, All Saints, West Newbury.
Did you
catch the celebration on Friday, April 20, of the 100th anniversary
of Fenway Park? It was quite an
event. To begin, a door opened in the
Green Monster and onto the field came former Red Sox players from about 80 of
those 100 years. They just kept coming,
a great wave of outfielders and pitchers and 2nd basemen, all
wearing their own numbers on their jerseys, and moving to the part of the field
where they had once played game after game in that uniform, standing there with
their comrades. Bobby Doerr and Johnny
Pesky, now both in their 90s, were escorted onto the field, and Johnny, a
native of Salem, wiped his eyes with his handkerchief for the entire
presentation. The crowd cheered a lot of
them, the ones they recognized, and the only other sound as they came and kept
on coming, was the music of the sound track of Field of Dreams. “If you
build it they will come.” Yes, indeed.
I was
reminded of what happened after the Sox won the World Series in 2004, that when
they were interviewed in the locker room, after the champagne showers and all
the revelry, every one of them mentioned the guys who had come before, who
never got to see that day when the curse was finally broken and Boston was
victorious. Every one of those current
players paid respects to the ones who worked so hard for it but never saw the
day. And that week a lot of fans bought
those championship pennants and took them out and planted them on the graves of
parents and grandparents who loyally followed the team and taught their kids to
love the game, but never got to see the win.
My brother was among them.
It is such a
good thing to remember those who came before us, to be mindful of what so many
contributed to make the present day what it is for us. We are not self-made, much as we might like
to think so. We build on top of the work
of others. Without their ideas and their
development of them, without their foresight and careful planning, without the
work of their hands, we would always be starting over again at the beginning.
It felt
great to celebrate the players of 100 (well, 80) years of Bosox baseball. We should think about those who have come
before us in this life in all kinds of ways, and celebrate with gratitude the
many ways they have enriched our lives and made them more enjoyable.
In this way
we celebrate the Communion of Saints.
Alleluia,
Christ is risen!
Susan+
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