As Mike Cope says in the opening line of his blog this morning, the Rangers are only one game out of first! Hope springs eternal.
Yesterday's opener was great. The pomp and circumstance of an opener is unlike any other game I've ever experienced. With Tom Hicks's influence over the Rangers, the pregame ceremonies began with lively rendition by the University of Texas band. Darrell Royal and Mack Brown were honored, with Mack throwing out the first pitch. Charlie Pride sang the National Anthem and four F-18's flew over at the close of the anthem.
As for the game, Curt Schilling was dominant. Ian Kinsler got his first major league hit in his first at-bat. Hank Blalock homered in the 7th, setting off the coolest home run celebration in Major League Baseball, complete with the fireworks and the theme song of the Natural. Kevin Millwood, in his Rangers debut, hit the wall in the fifth.
But the best part is the drive to the Palace is now about half what it was before. Jim White, thanks a million for sharing your season tickets with Allan and me. After sitting on the second row yesterday, just behind the Red Sox on-deck circle.
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I was listening to a presentation from the Tulsa Workshop the other day in which Tim Spivey shared how one of the spiritual giants of the past, Thomas a Kempis, overcame a personal struggle with lust through fasting. His reasoning was this: if eating food in the most basic need of my life, and if I can discipline myself regarding that most basic need, then I can surely discipline myself on the other, less basic needs/wants in my life.
How prominent a role does fasting play in your spiritual life?
It is interesting to see the language Jesus uses in his discussion on fasting in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. Found in context with a discussion on prayer and giving -- two spiritual disciplines the validity of which no one would question -- Jesus assumes there are times in the lives of his disciples when fasting will be the normal course of action. "When you fast," Jesus begins. Not "if" you fast but "when" you fast. Jesus's opening makes abundantly clear that fasting is not an optional exercise for his disciples.
To fast is to forego the preparation and partaking of physical food in order to seek the will of the Father through focused prayer and meditation.
I want to encourage you today, in times of great indecision, time of personal struggle, times of joy and success, and times of crisis to fast before the Father. The spiritual benefits always outgain the short-term hunger pains, raising your gaze to the Father's will and the Father's ways.
