I thought I would share this story shared with me by my friend Tina and her Paster Robert Sims.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
James Caan, the famous veteran actor of many decades took six years off from his acting career. He has played in more than fifty films and was nominated for an academy award for his role in The Godfather. Caan considers the six year hiatus one of the best times of his life.
He spent much of the time coaching Little League. On his team was a nine year old named Josh. He was a big awkward kid who just couldn’t hit the ball. He was devastated. His head was down and he was ashamed. Caan started going to the boy’s house to coach him one-on-one. Near the end of the season Josh came up to bat. The week before he had popped up to the pitcher with bases loaded. He felt terrible. Josh slowly stepped into the batter’s box and glanced
cautiously at the pitcher. The ball zings toward him and “wham”, he drills it deep into the outfield. He runs to first and on to second. Caan, coaching at third base waves him home. Caan said, “The kid sees me waving him home, looks at me---I’ll never forget it as long as I live---and there were tears in his eyes. He stopped just before home base, jumped up and landed with both feet on the plate. He put both fists in the air and looked up to God. Every kid in the dugout raced out to hug him. Nothing replaces that. That was the best time of my life.”
Most of us spend our lives looking for the deep esoteric meaning of our existence. Most of the time it is right there in front of us in the form of a little child needing a chance to discover the joy of loving oneself; or an older person in the nursing home looking for someone to convince them they are not forgotten or a recently divorced person needing someone to assure them they are still loved and valued.