Mission Impossible 7

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I was thinking last night after a day of labor and toiling of some of the earliest writing assignments I was given as far back as grade school and one of them went some thing like this…

You are the soul survivor or one few survivors of a nuclear war, fallout or holocaust. You come out of the bunker you took shelter in and you realize the full-scale ramifications of what has just recently occurred.

You first step is to find a familiar place, object, or location and that survived the disaster. What would it be, how would you describe it. This is the first thing that entered my brain.

As I am sure you all realize that as Christians we are told to go out and spread the word of God. So lets make this what if scenario a bit challenging yet somewhat familiar at the same time. For me I am sure the first place I would look for both solace and inner peace is with the sanctuary of my church. Considering the epic disaster that just occurred I might even go back to my roots or inner child. I therefore thought of the first church I remembered attending as a young boy.

It was a Catholic Church and since many people both Catholic and protestant believe the Catholic Church to be the center of their Christian life and the very heart or core of the religious beliefs today. So it is my family’s church I went back to in my memory.

This church had the crucifixion story depicted on the stain glass windows making up the perimeter of the church. I must admit it times it crept me out to see such a violent crime depicted in a place that is supposed to bring you love and calmness. So there for as a child my imagination explored many paths as the “boring” priest lectured on and on for what seemed liked forever. (In fact it was simply half an hour.)

Which brings me to today topic for discussion and thought that has been running through my brain for the past 12 hours. For even as an adult my mind wanders. You decide that this Catholic Church I spoke of earlier is where you wish to set up shelter and as a result the center you branch out from. Since the Catholic Church is notorious for not carrying pew Bibles you have no written evidence that God or Jesus even existed in the first place.

How then do you explain to the straggling survivors of the disaster I just described whom are literally coming out of the wood work (or other shelters.) that this story being depicted in the windows of the church you grew up in is a good thing. It after all is evidence of a seeming heinous crime or simply just another violent tale of pointless hate and murder. These people have just survived WWIII or at least the equivalent of it. All they can remember is senseless hate and destruction.

It is your sole mission in life to spread the word of God. You after wish to bring hope to the hopeless. How do you go about doing so? What is your first step? Do you seek out other surviving Christians? Perhaps instead you look for more substantial truth that God is out there. For instance seek out other Bibles that may have survived the disaster. (Hint look for bookstores, libraries and even hotels.) We all know Bibles are found in such locations.

So you mission if you choose it except it is the bring light into darkness, seek out truth and justice in a world that seems bereft of all love and compassion. This is after all our mission in life as Christians is it not?

The Little ‘Boys of Summer’

I am the first one to admit that I am biased. I am now and always have been a die-hard Phillies fan. I have moved the around a lot and even lived in San Francisco. I moved back here however in 1996 to rejoin my family and cheer for my favorite hometown teams. In the past few years the Phillies have edged out the Eagles as my top choice for local sports teams. Ok, by edged out I mean pushed and shoved sort of like the men involved in last nights brouhaha.

Let me start from the beginning. The Giants scored first and took a 1 – 0 lead in to the fourth inning. Shane Victorino went yard however and hit a ball just right of the foul line in left field to tie up the game at 1. The inning ended with a 4-1 lead for the Phillies.

Now lets get down to the heart of the story. By the time Victorino came up to the plate in the 6th the score was 8 -2 Phillies. They (the Phillies) had batted around in the top of the inning and scored three runs already. They had two men on base and if my count is correct that puts one dozen men in team uniforms in a stones throw of the pitching mound.

You factor in the umpires and we have enough men within striking distance for things to get ugly. That is exactly what it got was ugly. Giants’ pitcher Ramon Ramirez hit Victorino with the first pitch and that is when all Hell broke loose. The benches were cleared the bullpens too and soon there was chaos.

In the end three players were ejected. The ejected three were aforementioned Giants Pitcher Ramon Ramirez, as well as Shane Victorino, and Giants catcher Eli Whiteside. Remember boys and girls the catcher is the one who calls for the pitches. He not only knows the speed and type of pitch coming he knows the destination too. Anybody can tell he (Whiteside) knew what was coming by the speed at which he reacted.

The Flyin’ Hawaiian or Great Gazoo as I like to call him was anything but great. As any Phillies fan knows he has a temper. Well guess what he proved it last night. First and foremost he continued to shove the home plate umpire in to the center of the brawl as the fight ensued.

Mike Muchinski (the home plate umpire) had him covered from the start of the incident. Muchinski was on the ball. He blocked Victorino’s path the entire time. That did not stop Shane from pushing and shoving him in to the mallae. As any ball player knows you don’t so much as touch the umpire much less push and shove him.

That was not the only person Shane out muscled. Once in the center of the brawl Charlie Manuel got a hold of his center fielder. The Flyin’ Hawaiian lived up to his nickname and out hustled Charlie. He (Victorino) broke out of the coach’s grip and went for the jugular. (I mean figuratively of course.)

Well Shame on you Shane. First of all you never so much as touch and umpire. They are the game officials and only non-prejudiced men on the field of play. They double as the peacemakers or police officers in such an incident and you should never mess with a police officer.

Secondly he broke out of Manuel’s grasp too. The 67-year-old Charlie Manuel in not only the resigning manger of the year he is also the father-figure of your team. How dare you disobey him! Shane should be benched for the rest of the series. That will give him a time to cool down and teach him a lesson.

Who was truly to blame for last night’s incident? I’ll let the stats tell the story. Since the Giants won the series in Philly by winning the last two games they have faltered. They are 3-7 in the last ten games, they lost their last 7 out 0f 8. The Giants record in the east is 9-15.

On the other hand the Phillies swept both series so far on their west coast trip, they are 17-7 in the west and still have the best record in baseball. They are riding out their longest winning streak of the season at 8 games and continue to be red hot. Their struggling offence seems to be fixed and they have not lost a game since acquiring Hunter Pence from Houston. Who by the way has hit two homers in two games in the city by the bay.