SAFE. These four letters strung confidently together are possibly the sweetest in baseball. As elating as it is to hear the umpire yell “SAFE!” upon reaching first, second, or third, the entire sport hinges on another string of four letters: HOME. The 90 feet separating third base from home plate may be the game’s most defining measure of distance as well. “SAFE at HOME” is the declaration that decides the game. World championships have been canonized in the annals of baseball legend by this phrase. Hope-crushing losses have broken the hearts of players, fans, and ball clubs by its absence.
Why does this little house-shaped plate carry so much weight in our baseball imagination? What’s more, why does reaching it safely ignite a sense of passion and satisfaction deep within the baseball soul? Some may dismiss these questions with the simple response, “It’s just the way it is! No need to make a big deal of the four-letter shot in basketball just because the word FREE has other connotations! Words are words! Let baseball be!” While this may be a reasonable assessment, I have witnessed both the language and the meaning of baseball enchant athletes and fans to such a degree that the game has caused me to consider deeper truths that rest behind America’s Pastime.
Think about home… your home… perhaps your childhood home. Recall playing in the backyard without a worry, clueless to the dangers that lurked on the other side of your fence. Remember when you fell out of the tree- the giant oak you thought bigger than the world itself- and the moment your mom came running to your rescue armed with an arsenal of kisses. Bring to memory your first best friend- living only a door away- who goaded you every Saturday morning to abandon yard and tree for an expansive game of Hide-and-Seek with your squad in the empty field on the corner. Even though these snapshots of childhood may be too ideal or too specific to your experience, I have little doubt that other fond memories surface in your mind. Conversely, if your home-life was less than idyllic or downright poor, I still wager that your heart cries, “I wish home was like that!” So again I ask, What is it about home?
My personal journey has found a satisfying answer in a 2,000-year-old “home tradition” nestled in the center of Christianity. As far back as the Apostle Paul, we pin-point this longing for a safe home (or to arrive safely at home) in the words, “For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:1-2. NASB). Fast forward nearly two millennia. We hear a similar refrain from one of the most influential converts to Christianity who finally found his way back home after decades of wandering. C.S. Lewis writes in Mere Christianity, “I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that other country and to help others to do the same.” Scan the Christian landscape between St. Paul and C.S. Lewis and you will behold hundreds of believing writers, thinkers, poets, artists, and clergy who are all curiously saying the same thing.
You may now be asking, “What do these men and women mean by ‘safe at home’ in their Christian context, and what in the world does any of this have to do with the game of baseball?” To answer Part A of your question, I will keep my response brief by borrowing from St. Augustine’s famous answer in his Confessions. He says, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.” For Paul, Augustine, and Lewis, home is not primarily a location or even a destination. Home is a person. For millions of Christians across the centuries, arriving “safe at home” means resting in the presence of God made accessible by his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus himself invites us into God’s family through his momentous words, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burnt out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life…. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11:28-30. MSG). And as we presently trust Jesus to fill our longing hearts with God’s infinite peace, rest, and joy, we look forward to the day when he will bring us home to be fully satisfied in God’s presence forever.
Now to answer Part B of your question: “What in the world does any of this have to do with baseball?” I believe that the creativity of baseball enamors our imagination just as potently as the skill of baseball stimulates our competitive and strategic intellect. We love telling the story, “…it was the bottom of the ninth, two outs, full count with bases loaded.” We cry at the end of The Natural and Field of Dreams. We love the game because the game communicates far more than the facts of grass, dirt, and chalk.
SAFE. HOME. These two words pave the way between the game we love and our heart’s deepest longing. We desire to rest in the loving arms of our Maker “safe at home” but all-too-often we find ourselves stranded on base. The 90 feet between third and home plate seems like eternal separation to us: “How can I ensure the run and win the game?” To this I close with the following exhortation: “Let him bring you in.” Let the One who is waiting for you at home- stepping into the box, swinging away- prepare your way home. Will you run to him? Will you find peace, rest, and joy in Jesus?
The next time you are at the ballpark, either on the field or in the stands, take a good look at home. Remember the metaphor of the plate. As you spend a minute or two staring at the diamond, consider what your heart is longing for and how God might be calling you home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Duane Litz is a pastor at Granada Heights Church in La Mirada, CA. He received his undergrad at Biola University and went on to obtain his Master of Divinity at Talbot School of Theology. Duane was the first team Chaplain for FCA’s Southern California Catch Collegiate Team back in 2013. He is married to Megan and they love watching movies, adventuring and traveling together, and investing in young people.