It is little league baseball season in the Roark household. After spending forty-five minutes hunting for a baseball uniform, we all piled in the car for an enjoyable day at the ballpark.
The opposing baseball team was quite fascinating to me as they frequently yelled and reminded each other to be "Baseball Ready!" When kids were found in the outfield slouching or playing in the dirt, all of the adults would remind the kids to be "Baseball Ready!"
Honestly, the game of baseball has always been miserably boring to me until today. Standing around waiting on the off-chance that a baseball might fly in your direction does not sound like my idea of fun. However, maybe my perspective has been wrong all along. There is a difference between standing in the field playing in the dirt and standing in the field with knees bent and glove at the ready. That difference is one hundred percent found in the attitude that the ball IS coming in your direction at some point. Good outfielders are expecting the ball at all times and so they position themselves to catch it. Poor outfielders don't ever expect the ball to make it to them and so they are caught unawares playing in the dirt. "Baseball Ready!" requires diligence.
Might I suggest to you that we as individuals in the church become "Spiritually Ready!" This means that we do our basics of Family Home Evening, scripture study, and daily family prayer as the prophets have repeatedly counseled us. It also means that we spend our time putting ourselves in the position to help others when we are needed.
Just as the coaches and parents of the baseball team frequently shouted "Baseball Ready!" to the semi-inattentive group of seven year olds, let us not weary of reminding ourselves to be "Spiritually Ready!" Playing in the dirt is big fun but we have a game to play.
- Rachel Roark
