A New Face

I always wanted to be Batman. 

Growing up with 60's comic books and Adam West's parody TV show as my guide convinced me that Batman was the most awesome person I could aspire to be. Looking back I think a great deal of the appeal was the the Bat cave - the coolest, most secretive location on earth. Only accessible through a hidden tunnel in the hills or by descending down the Bat pole in Wayne Manor, this restricted access ensured that you could work, play and live your life uninterrupted by others. This fed into my utopia of life as an introvert and when you factor in the high-tech toys available in the Bat cave, well, it was a done deal. That goal had "legs" as my friend Jon Sims would say. 

But one day I was watching my favorite TV show and instead of just the usual plot-line involving the rotating cast of villains, there were two new characters being introduced, the Green Hornet and Kato. Suddenly my goal of being Batman was cast into doubt.

Cave of Despair

Once you accept Jesus Christ as Savior your life will become a cakewalk. All your prayers will be answered, situations will always go your way, and relationships will always be peaceful. Heaven begins at the point of your surrender, or so a lot of modern theology would have you believe. They teach that if you are a faithful child of God you should never experience depression. Or anxiety. Or fear. 

I can only suppose that those holding this foolish (trying to watch my language here) opinion have never read their Bibles. Because here is a brief list of faith-filled men of God who suffered bouts of depression, fear, worry and anxiety: Moses, Job, Elijah, David, Jonah. 

How's that for a short list of men who experienced the fear of the present and despondence for the future? 

Jackie Mitchell strikes out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

Note: For this week's blog I yield to one of the greatest sports writer of our generation, Joe Posnanski. Hey, don't just take my word for it, check out his story about Jackie Mitchell (A Chattanooga girl!) below . . . 

A few years ago, our daughter Elizabeth rather suddenly grew interested in the story of Jackie Mitchell. She had not expressed interest in baseball at all up to that point. When we took her to ballgames, as I’ve written before, she would bring a book and so lose herself in it that when I would try to point out something on the field, she would briefly look at me a bit bewildered, as if she had totally forgotten that we were at a baseball game.

But then, one day a few years ago, maybe when she was 12 or 13, she became fascinated with the story of Mitchell, the girl who struck out Babe Ruth.

If We Forget The Past, We Are Doomed To Repeat It

In the movie, Judgment At Nuremberg (1961), the Chief Judge in the movie, played by Spencer Tracy, delivers one of the most powerful speeches recorded on film. In this scene from the movie, Tracy's character is delivering the final judgement of the four German judges on trial for atrocities committed during the time of the Third Reich (1933 - 1945). 

Under extreme duress to let these men off with probation or light sentences due to the crisis with Russia over the ruling of Germany in 1949, the judge's ruling is fraught with diplomatic and political repercussions for all the parties involved. Yet, this judge, sums up the duty of the court and its responsibilities, to deliver a ruling, despite the outside pressure, and to properly judge the actions of these four men and their injustice toward their fellow man.