Baseball and Rainbows

You will come across very few people that you will admire these days. Little by little the moral umbrella that has been protecting this planet is getting wisped away by the corruptible wind. When it rains, it really pours. And most people are getting drenched.

I met this man almost 40 years ago. He has had his share of stormy days, and then a few more thrown in for good measure. But you can always see him looking up past the holes in his umbrella. And just at the corner of his eye, you will see a hint of a rainbow.

I’ve sat with him through many a rough night. He grew up with a passion for baseball and a fetish for fire. He would listen to the games for hours on end. Reciting stats on every major league player. He would practice hitting and catching all day in the sunshine. And then he would sneak out of the house with a can full of gasoline and a box full of matches and set a field on fire. Or worse yet, someone’s leg. He still has the scars to remind him. I wonder sometimes if those same scars today remind him of baseball.

When he was 18, he was kicked out of his house by his mother’s boyfriend. He went to live with his Aunt. He ended up under the wrong umbrella and it cost him. I sat with him one night at the hospital. He was admitted into Ward-D. Ward-D was the local hotel for those wanting to come in out of the rain, but couldn’t quite find the way. He tried to stop the storm brewing inside of him by suicide. What caused such a torrent of emotions inside such a young man? We would come to find that while he was staying at his Aunts, he was enticed into hallucinogens. While he was being swooned by the drugs, some men that were also staying there decided to hold him down and brutally rape him.

I turned his cheek towards me. Look deep into his eyes and you will see a kind soul. But it was so far away and behind so many storm clouds. Please God, let him find his way home! I took hold of his lifeless hand and we prayed to God for help. We didn’t know what we needed. But God always knows. God gave Noah a rainbow. God built this young man an ark.

On this ark, God sent the man everything he would need for his 40 days of rain. Little by little the storm receded and little by little you could see the sunshine return to the mans eyes. When he finally opened the door of his little boat, he saw his very own rainbow and he smiled.

I was honored to be the Matron of Honor at this mans wedding. Today he and his lovely bride have been married a very happy 16 years. He still thanks God for baseball. And I thank God for rainbows.