From Bill Bennett's American Patriot's Almanac:
On May 2, 1939, loudspeakers at Yankee Stadium stunned the crowd with the announcement that New York first baseman Lou Gehrig would not be in the day’s lineup. Gehrig, a fan favorite, had compiled a lifetime batting average of .340. He had slugged 493 home runs during his career, including 23 grand slams, and averaged a staggering 147 RBIs per season. But his most amazing stat was his streak of 2,130 consecutive games played. For thirteen years, he had played through good times and bad—including seventeen fractures and numerous other injuries—without missing a game. The son of working-class German immigrants showed up day after day to give his best in his steady, quiet way. His endurance earned him the nickname “the Iron Horse.”
But Gehrig had not played well lately. He could tell something was wrong with his body. He had trouble hitting the ball. In the field, he even had trouble getting to first base in time to take a throw. So he ended his streak. “I’m benching myself,” he told his manager. “For the good of the team.”
Medical exams brought a bleak diagnosis: amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease of the nervous system. The chances of long-term survival were slim. Gehrig took the blow with courage and grace, telling friends he was hoping for the best.
On July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig stood on the field in a packed Yankee Stadium to say goodbye. Surrounded by friends, family, teammates, and fans, the first baseman stepped up to the microphones. “For the past two weeks you have been reading about the bad break I got,” he said. “Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of this earth.”
Gehrig died two years later from the disease that now bears his name. Sports fans still remember him as the Iron Horse.
Every day, Bill Bennett provides via email--for free--a reading from his American Patriot's Almanac. It's "a daily newsletter that will teach you key events that took place each day in American history." Click here to subscribe.
Welcome to the Intersections Blog, where I try to work out where politics, pop culture, and the Bible meet
So What's This All About?
In case you didn't know, I'm in the multi-year-long process of posting a Christian devotional at the TAWG Blog. The TAWG Blog is, and always will be, mostly apolitical. For the most part, Bible-believing Christians will find little to disagree with there. But I also firmly believe that God's word can--and should--inform everything in life, and this should include politics and popular culture. How should we vote? How should we respond to hot topics such as abortion, capital punishment, taxes, and other issues? Which party, if either, is closer to the Biblical ideal? Tony Campolo and Ron Sider, Evangelicals whose political leanings are on the Left, have made the case in several of their writings that God wants his followers to vote politically on the Left more than on the Right. At times, some of them have gone so far as to equate voting on the Left with obedience to Christ, either subtly or not-so-subtly contending that the converse is true as well: If you vote Republican, you're sinning against the Savior.
I don't agree. I think that to the degree they actually resort to the Bible, they're misinterpreting it. With a whole bunch of caveats, I think politically conservative positions are a lot more compatible with the Scriptures than the Leftist positions.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
Just to clarify, I would never accuse people who disagree with me--especially siblings in Christ--of what they accuse me of. I don't judge my own heart, much less anyone else's, and I don't equate political disagreement with theological fidelity to God. I have no reason to doubt their love for the Lord and "for the least of these," but I believe that they're sincerely wrong.
So there are two main purposes for this blog. One is to make a case for my political beliefs based on Scripture. The other is a bit more vague, basically to work out my political beliefs and figure out what's based on Scripture and what's based on my own biases. I certainly don't have all the answers. Some of this stuff I'm still figuring out. And I'm certainly open to correction. As long as you make your case civilly and based on Scripture, feel free to make a comment, and I promise I'll post it and consider your arguments thoughtfully and prayerfully. Who knows? Maybe we'll learn a little something from each other.
May God bless our common striving together towards both the "little t" truth and "Big T" Truth. Our watchword here is a line from C. S. Lewis's The Last Battle: "Further up and further in!"
P.S. -- Below on the left is "Topics I've Covered" which lists everything I've posted topically. It's come to my attention that some people would like to see everything just listed for them. If that's you, you can get it here. Thanks to my friend Stephen Young for the tip!
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