Wesley, Lent, and Spring Training

Yesterday was the first day of Lent and also the first spring training game for most major league baseball teams. (Including the Angels who won 12-3 thank you very much.) To celebrate the latter event we dressed Wesley in the Angels outfit he inherited from his buddy Elias.
We didn't celebrate the former this year (we typically attend the Ash Wednesday service at church) as we are still taking the doctor's advice and hunkering down, away from as many germs
as possible.

But it struck me that the two events falling on the same day was fitting. Lent is a season of personal, spiritual reflection, a time of re-commitment to a way of Living, a period that looks forward in hope to the celebration of Easter.

Similarly, spring training, I'm sure, is a season of reflection for many ball players--both the inexperienced wondering if they have what it takes to make the team, and the veterans wondering if they have what it takes to get through another grueling schedule.

It's also a time of re-commitment to their particular way of living: husbands leave their spouses and families, do the tedious, day-after-day work of preparing their bodies, and mentally (and spiritually?) get themselves ready to live baseball for 7-8 months.

And, of course, as in all sports, pre-season is a time when Hope springs eternal; every club has a clean slate; every team and player looks forward to opening day when all the win/loss records and personal stats start over again. In spring training, looking forward, anyone can dream about being MVP, any team can believe they can make the playoffs.

So baseball fans enjoy spring training and enjoy Lent. I know I for one will be finding deeper meaning in each this year.