By Mike Leno

Orlando Hudson and James Loney converged to the same spot on the base line between first and second. As they both looked skyward their motions became synchronized as if following a well-rehearsed choreography. A high pop fly hung in space overhead and then accelerated downward toward the two outstretched gloves. The crowd waited breathlessly. It should be an easy out. But strange things can happen in this sort of situation. What if the two professional ball players ran into each other while trying to track the ball? What if they each simultaneously broke off pursuit so as not to hinder the other? What if a gust of wind carried the ball out of reach? Or what if they both lost the ball in the sun, which was directly overhead? We waited for gravity and time to answer all the what-ifs.

Jeff, my son-in-law, and I had decided that rather than a mall excursion with by my wife and daughter, an Angels/Dodgers game would be a more appealing venue for male bonding. It was a perfect day for baseball and the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend included a day game at Dodger Stadium. As we sat in the stands above and behind home plate munching on high cost, low quality food, we settled in for a very pleasant afternoon of watching hits, runs and errors. But in the midst of all that a statement of one of my church elders came flying out of memory like a wild pitch, high and inside.

“It sounds like Dodger Stadium in there!” the elder had said in exasperation. He was referring, of course, to the presence of noise and a corresponding lack of reverence in church, especially during the times just before and after the worship service. I had to admit, he had a point. And it’s something I still wrestle with. How do you make people welcome, engaged, and part of a community; and at the same time maintain proper respect and reverence? But now that I was actually sitting in Dodger Stadium, I couldn’t help indulging in some private amusement over a comparison between church and stadium. What follows is not an attempt to minimize a valid concern for reverence. But partly out of amusement and partly out of a serious concern for meaning in worship, I offer the following observations about church and baseball. If that sounds a little irreverent, well don’t worry, I’m not trying to mix the two.