It is an election year.
I am already beyond weary of the rhetoric, the ads, the junk mail, the name calling, all of the vitriol and contempt and malice. Red states and blue states, red counties and blue counties, demonstrating more animosity and bitterness than a stadium filled with Royals and Cardinals fans talking about the 1985 World Series.
The America at the Seams map just might be the reminder we need if we are going to try and retain our humanity and humility through November and beyond. The baseball seam and leather map of the United States is created from baseballs obtained from each state. The baseballs are connected to specific stories, which are further described in the coffee table book. The pertinent lesson at this Spring Training season of life is simple:
We are all just baseballs.
A squishy center surrounded by miles of string with a relatively tough exterior keeping everything where it’s supposed to be.
Like the baseballs of Nebraska and Ohio, some of us are still in immaculate condition. And some of us have journeyed through sandlots and asphalt parking lot games and are permanently scared, with stitches coming loose all over.
Some of us, like Mississippi and Illinois and Massachusetts, sport ink to remind us of our stories.
Some of us, like Oregon and Wyoming and Louisiana, know that life is anything but a straight line.
Some of us, like Rhode Island, feel small, overlooked, and pushed to the side.
And, like Texas, some of us can’t help standing out in a crowd.
Even so.
We are all just baseballs.
The sole purpose of a baseball is to bring people together to play, to have fun together. It is not hand-stitched with the intent of injuring others or causing destruction. A baseball is made to strengthen relationships and create memories. A baseball is made for a story to pass on to the next generation. A baseball is made for an audacious dream of bases-loaded strikeouts and bottom-of-the-ninth inning home runs.
G.K. Chesterton agreed. “The true object of all human life is play,” he wrote.
When you need a break from the polls and projections, step outside with a baseball and a friend.
This country needs more games of catch and less games of politics.
We are all just baseballs.
