Late last Wednesday night something happened in Cleveland that no one has witnessed for 108 years. Chicago Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant fielded a soft ground ball and threw to Anthony Rizzo at first base for the final out of the seventh game of the 2016 World Series. The Cubs won. The Chicago Cubs are the […]
The Virtue of Hope
November 21, 2014 by Leave a Comment
We have to offer our apologies for failing to post this lovely reflection on hope, baseball, and the social politics of our beautiful city of Chicago. John penned these words several months ago now, in the midst of the dog days of summer. We hope it will remind you of those warmer times and the fact that […]
Faith, Hope, & Baseball
March 31, 2014 by 6 Comments
I just read that the Cubs’ starting rotation is the weakest in the Major Leagues. Everyone knows that you must have good pitching to win baseball games and so it looks like another long and dismal season for Cubs partisans. Last year was an example of futility for Chicago baseball. The Cubs and White Sox […]
How Good Home Is
June 3, 2013 by Leave a Comment
As I was preparing to preach on the 75th anniversary of the dedication and opening of the congregation’s new building on Michigan Avenue in Chicago in May 1914, I thought it would be interesting to introduce the sermon by recounting what else was going on on Chicago at that time. I made an amazing discovery, […]
Hierophany in the Upper Deck
June 1, 2013 by 1 Comment
In his recent book, Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game, John Sexton, President of NYU, discusses the importance of hierophany in both religion and baseball. Sexton sites the work of Mircea Eliade, a University of Chicago professor, scholar and authority on Ancient and World Religion. Hierophany, Eliade explains, is common to […]
Hold to the Good 