One Hit A Week

The other night at work we were watching the baseball game, and a customer at the bar said, "Did you know that the only difference between a regular batter, and an all star is one hit a week, if you do out all the math. Sounds like life doesn't it?" The customer had effectively stopped me right in my tracks.

Throughout history there are tales of regular men and women who went against the tide, and grabbed that one more hit a week. Today many have the day off from work due to Christopher Columbas having that same dream. The rest of the world said the world was flat, and he debated it, and proved everyone wrong with his resulting discovery. That discovery grew, and today we stand as a nation that boasts of freedom, hope, and liberty.

Last night I took the first step to be a religious leader in the Catholic Church. Not the ROMAN Catholic Church, but the North American Old Catholic Church. I pray that this opportunity will provide a chance for me to make that extra hit a week. To make a difference in peoples lives, and to bring people back to Christ and His Church who had walked away because they felt un-welcome, and ever since lost that piece of themselves that they have had since the beginning of their lives. In MY life, that was extra hit. It was a step closer to something I have dreamed of all my life. A small step to be sure, however in that same ceremony, I watched two men take vows to the Church to become Religious Brothers. Most importantly, I watched my classmate from High School be Ordained a Priest. Not just a priest, but he is now the Pastor of MY parish and the shepherd of souls, to a community that thirsts for one. Big hits for all involved.

President Obama landed an extra hit this week, in his speech that the Human Rights Campaigns national dinner. He addressed a crowd of people whose daily lives are effected by the laws that govern the GLBT community. After referencing Stonewall he said, "That’s the story of America: of ordinary citizens organizing, agitating and advocating for change; of hope stronger than hate; of love more powerful than any insult or injury; of Americans fighting to build for themselves and their families a nation in which no one is a second-class citizen, in which no one is denied their basic rights, in which all of us are free to live and love as we see fit."

Christopher Columbas held a dream in his heart and set sail across unknown waters to prove his belief to the rest of the world. An everyday guy, who went for that extra hit. The President last night spoke words that provided comfort to us, as Gay Americans, that we should take comfort in the fact that the administration that governs our nation has not forgotten the basic, God given right of equality, that we all share. And on a local level, last night the community in Providence...the larger community, including gays, straight, the divorced, and anyone else who feels abandoned by God and His Church, was reminded by Bishop Michael that God has not abandoned us, and that He never will.

That everyday American about whom Obama spoke, Christopher Columbas who was viewed as a fool by so many, and each and every one of us, who everyday make choices, and decisions that may be challenged by others...we work daily to make some kind of a difference, regardless of how small. Sometimes that difference is made in the work place, in our relationships, or more dramatically in activism. However it happens, we never know what difference we are making in someones life by the simple words we say, the things we do, or the simple actions we take.

The bottom line is, weather we know it or not, each and everyday we try for that extra hit, and every day we manage to get it, and sometimes we don't even realize it. You see, becoming an 'All Star" and getting that extra hit a week isn't always just a BIG thing. The extra hit isn't always the President fighting for gay rights, or a dreamer discovering a nation the rest of the world said wasn't there, or a Bishop speaking out in the face of those who would dispute him. The extra hit is sometimes the comfort of a friend, the kiss of a lover, or when we make someone else feel that we care. Big changes only happen when an everyday person is inspired, and that inspiration often comes from the most unexpected places.

We never know what our actions will do to inspire the next "all star". To live life in the nation that the President described, and that Columbas discovered is not a responsibility of Obama alone. The big changes start on the smallest level. I would be willing to bet that Obama would not be President, the Pope would not be the Pope, our Religious, and civil leaders would not be who they are if it were not for the encouragement, support and suggestion of others. Essentially, you don't have to bat for the Major Leagues to have a shot at being an All Star. I am certain that the President, Pope, and the other leaders in our world would testify that it is only due to the innocent comment of someone unseen by us, that they ended up who and where they are. . . and today all these people are touching the lives of the everyday person, like you and me.

The President spoke last night about the fear of a young gay man, who is scared to come out of the closet;

"Tonight, somewhere in America, a young person, let’s say a young man, will struggle to fall to sleep, wrestling alone with a secret he’s held as long as he can remember. Soon, perhaps, he will decide it’s time to let that secret out. What happens next depends on him, his family, as well as his friends and his teachers and his community. But it also depends on us — on the kind of society we engender, the kind of future we build."

That future is built by US. The everyday person. The Minor Leauge batters, who just might...JUST MIGHT...land that hit, that makes a difference...and the difference they make might make us an All Star. You see, a community is made up of its members, so our communities are only going to be as strong as those members. Lets be a strong one!