This really has been a depressing few weeks. After two local high school students killed themselves a couple weeks ago, we found out about another pair of tragedies this week. By now I am assuming you have heard about what has happened in the past few days. On Monday there was the bombing at the Boston marathon that killed three people and injured 140 others. A couple days later, there was a terrible explosion in Waco, Texas that left many in a small town injured and homeless. Homes were destroyed.. While both were terrible things that happened, they are both very different situations. I'm not sure how much I will talk about Waco in this blog as a lot of what I have to say is how people reacted to the Boston bombing. All I can say about both of these situations is that they both left me heartbroken and deeply saddened, just as the pair of suicides did just a couple weeks ago. All I can say is my heart mourns for those affected by it, and I have been and will continue to be praying for them.
So where am I going in this blog? I wanted to talk about something that I've noticed in this Boston situation. A lot of people have been talking about how whoever did this such a terrible person/people. And yes, they are. People have every right to be angry at whoever did this. And I agree with them on that. There certainly are sickening people like that in this world. Like who does this at a Boston Marathon? People spend months and some even spend years training themselves for this. An eight year-old was killed in this. This truly is sickening, and there certainly are sickening people in this world.
But something that I feel isn't being talked about enough is how much people have cared and how people have been so caring and supportive of those affected. Since the bombing, people have been rushing to the Red Cross to donate blood. When the bombing happened many people rushed over to help others who were hurt, without any concern for their own safety. There have also been a couple particular stories that have really stuck out to me.
The first was a "larger than sports" moment. What is a larger than sports moment? I think of a larger than sports moment as something that goes beyond sports. It goes beyond rooting for a team. It's more than one team winning a championship. It's something brings about unity or sportsmanship. I have a couple previous stories to use as examples.
The first story is something that happened five years ago. In a college softball game being played between Central Washington and Western Oregon University, senior right fielder Sara Tucholsky (Western Oregon University) hit her first ever career home run. While running to first base she injured her knee and couldn't walk. The umpires said that according to the rules, if her teammates or coaches assisted her in touching the bases, she would be called out, and if they brought in a pinch-runner it would only count as a single. What happens next? Two girls from the other team, Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace pick up Tucholsky and carry her around the bases bringing her foot down so that she can touch every base and experience her first home run. ESPN later pointed out that the umpires screwed up this call and that according to the rule book if someone is injured and can't continue running they can have a substitute come in and touch the bases for the runner. Nevertheless, this was an incredible story of sportsmanship. It went beyond sports. I talked about some of my problems I had with some recent displays of unsportsmanlike conduct in a previous blog. This was true sportsmanship and again, it was bigger than sports.
Another moment that comes to mind was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. President George W. Bush was set to throw out the first pitch of a World Series game at Yankee stadium. Bush walked right out, wearing a bullet proof vest, greeted by cheers. I don't think I can hear a single boo watching the video. Anyway, Bush walks right out and throws a perfect strike wearing a bullet proof vest. He threw it right down the pipe. Beautiful pitch. As he walked off, the stadium erupted in to a "USA! USA!" chant. Regardless of what people thought about his politics, people supported and backed him in this terrible time. He threw an amazing pitch and I don't know what else to say. It felt like he had done something amazing for us in that. And the fans cheered. It put America before everything else. I loved seeing it and it was a moment bigger than sports, that united us all together.
Both of those moments were bigger than sports. And there certainly are more. But Tuesday welcomed another member to this exclusive club. I have always believed the biggest rivalry in all of sports in The Boston Red Sox-New York Yankees rivalry. These are two teams that absolutely hate each other. They have engaged in numerous fights in games, for example when Alex Rodriguez and Jason Varitek took shots at each other, leading to a bench-clearing brawl in a 2004 game in the middle of the summer.
So as you can see, these teams clearly hate each other. Just about every summer, you see these two teams battling it out for the AL East division crown.
The Red Sox have a tradition of playing and passionately singing the song "Sweet Caroline" at Fenway Park. On Tuesday, the Yankees played this song. The song got mixed reactions from the fans. Some fans didn't sing and just sat in their seats doing nothing. Other fans laughed and thought of it as funny and had fun with it. I can see why you would laugh. You are playing your enemy's battle cry at your ballpark. Other fans jumped in and sang it very passionately. My favorite were the fans that held up an American flag. No matter who we root for, we are all Americans. This was bigger than sports.
There was another thing that stuck out to me. It might have been more of a little thing, but this was class too. The Chicago Tribune released the following cover for the sports section.
I thought this was really cool. Perhaps a way to support the city of Boston is to root for their sports teams. Regardless, I think this entire situation has spoke volumes of the good in people that might not be talked about as much as it should be.
There was one other story that I will try to briefly summarize. I read a story the other day where a man who finished the Boston Marathon gave his medal to a woman that wasn't able to because of the bombing. The article talked about how big a deal these medals are. They say it's like having an Olympic medal and this guy might never get another chance to get another one. But instead, he gave it up. He is a born again Christian that works on Young Life staff in Alaska. As many of you know, Young Life is something I have been very involved in. It's an incredible program for high schoolers. I can talk more about Young Life later. If you have any questions about it, feel free to ask me. I don't want to get too far off task here. But the point is this guy showed the love of God by giving his medal off to someone else. He had earned it and he gave it someone who wasn't able to earn it. Sounds a lot like something Jesus has done for all of us. Regardless of your faith, this was a very touching story. If you would like to read that story, check it out here.
What has been amazing to see is how much people care. How much people support. While this was a tragic thing that happened, I think there is some hope that can be found in this. I don't know why these terrible things happen, but some good can come out of this. I have been impressed with the goodness of people.
Thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this blog. Let me hear what you think on Twitter @vellvita7 or on my Facebook fan page. Have a good day, and keep praying for Boston and Waco.
No comments:
Post a Comment