Baseball and Swashbucklers: A Demonstration of Perfect Love

A brisk walk in the park brought about a humbling thought. My capacity to love others is squarely dependent on how much I allow God to love others through me.

I was walking the asphalt loop that circumnavigates the two baseball fields in the park not 2 blocks from my house when I caught eye of a father and his two sons. The father could not have been older than mid-thirties and his two sons could not have been older than 6 and 4 respectively. The father had his baseball glove with him and consequently so did the 6 year old; they were playing catch. The 4 year old was not one to be out occupied, so he had with him a plastic, red-handled pirate sword with which he was playing. He was perfectly content with swinging the sword at the air and making lunges into non-existent, fellow swashbucklers while his father and his older brother engaged in a game of catch.

The game of catch was going as well as you’d expect with an adult and a 6 year old. The father having to short arm all his throws to keep the velocity down and the 6 year old, while displaying quite an affluent arm, wildly hurled the ball in either direction of his father; it looked like a good time. The 4 year old looked like he was having a good time as well. He was stabbing everything he could get his little eyes on. Then he caught eye of his dad. In his little mind, dad was wearing a fancy three-point hat with a big feather, an eye patch, and he had a parrot perched on his shoulder; there’s no room in this town for both someone who looks like this and someone with a red-handled pirate sword. He proceeded to go after dad; he took a swing.

Now, dad had a choice to make. He was currently engaging his 6 year old son in a game of catch, but that engagement was about to be usurped by a young 4 year old swashbuckler with a red-handled sword. If he chose to ignore his 4 year old, he might not take much notice, but he might be hurt. If he chose to ignore his game of catch with his 6 year old, he might not notice too much either, but he also might be a little hurt. The father was demonstrating perfectly that we as humans cannot be in two places at once.

Now, I am 100% positive the father loved both of his sons equally. However, he could not demonstrate that love, at this time, to both of them in the way that he wished. That is, he could not both sword fight with his 4 year old and play catch with his 6 year old at the same time. His capacity to love his sons was limited. This is not to say he did not love both of his sons at this point, but rather he was limited.

God is not limited; this is the humbling thought that came to me while this all was unfolding in front of me. I am limited, but God is not. God can love everybody, God can demonstrate love for everybody all at once, and I cannot. Therefore, In order to demonstrate love to people in greatest capacity, I need to rely on God. My love is limited, God’s is infinite.

The 4 year old took a swing at dad and dad was able to maneuver in such a way in which he avoided the fatal blow to his knee caps. Not one to give up easily, the 4 year old chased after dad, but dad’s legs were a bit too long for the pursuit to be successful. The 4 year old gave it his best, but the fence was a much easier opponent, so he pursued after it. The father was able to go back to his game of catch with his 6 year old and he looked un-phased by the pause in action.

If one generally wants to love others as Christ loved us, one has to trust while he or she is occupied with one person, love is being demonstrated to others without one’s direct help. One question that constantly comes to my mind is how I can spend my time with people here in America when there are people who need God’s love demonstrated to them in so many other places. Cyclones and earthquakes are destroying families and devastating lives in other parts of the world; wouldn’t my help be better off there? But the second I say that I have to say that people here in America need God’s love demonstrated to them. Alcoholism and divorce are destroying families and devastating lives here; my help is needed here as well. The only way I can live with myself knowing that I cannot be love to everyone at once is a faith that God is demonstrating His love to all people everywhere.

The father made the decision to engage his younger son knowing that he could still impact his older son. He realized that despite not directly being with his older son, his older son would still know love. Despite my inability to love everyone all at once, people will still have the opportunity to know love. God’s love demonstrated through me can have a direct impact on those around me or an indirect impact on anyone anywhere in the world. God is pretty big when it comes to love.

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us . . .”
- 1 John 4:16-17