A friend of mine invited my wife and I to go see the Chicago Cubs play the St. Louis Cardinals. He is a Cubs fan, we are Cardinals fans. The game was played at Wrigley Field. We arrived at the stadium, made our way to our seats, and were ready for the start of the game. We had four seats kind of in the middle of the row. I sat on the outside seat of our group. Just before the game began, an African-American gentleman proceeded up the stairs and into our row and sat down beside me. First thing he did was introduce himself and asked for my name in return. We fist bumped each other and settled in. I'm not sure settled is a good word. If you've ever sat in those upper deck seats. They are really small. So you are always trying to adjust to get comfortable in them. So your not really "settled" per se.
As the game started and progressed, he and I talked. We talked strategy. We talked about mistakes both teams were making. Discussed passed balls that got by the catchers. He lamented that back in the day, that just didn't happen. He was an old school baseball fan. We talked about catchers like Johnny Bench. Thurman Munson. Carlton Fisk. The ball very rarely made it passed those catchers. I told him that today's catchers are to focused on their offense now, not defense. Unless you are Yadi Molina. He is in a whole different league.
The reason I bring all of this up is this. If you listen to the media now a days, this gentleman and I should not have been sitting next to each other or even talking with each other. The media seems like they are trying to divide the races into black and white. We can't intermix or interact with each other. According to them.
Well, not only did we break the mold of that kind of thinking, we totally shattered it. We sat by each other for the whole game. Talked with each other for the whole game. Enjoyed each others company. Every time we had to adjust to get comfortable in our seats, we jostled each other. Each one of us always apologized for doing that. We kept telling each that they were good. No worries! That we are all in this together.
The only differences between he and I were, he was black, I am white. He was a Cub fan, I am a Cardinals fan. We had a few similarities. We were both tall, bald and male.
If you know me very well at all, you know that I really don't see color. He was just a fan sitting next to me rooting for his team while I rooted for mine.
Mark 12:31 The Passion Translation
31 And the second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these.”
This gentleman and I were neighbors for over three hours and nine innings of baseball. We both cared about what happened to each other as the game went along. We made sure to do the best that we could to make sure each other was as comfortable as possible.
When it was all over and the Cardinals had won their 15th game in a row. He got up and not only shook my hand, but also my wife's and my friends as well. He bid us farewell and he disappeared into the sea of people.
So, take that you naysayers!! We can and will get along just fine! God Bless!
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