White Sox game

It's a bit dated... from August to SEG girls :-)


I hope you’re enjoying your august wherever you might be, it sounds like everyone is having an all around good time.
We’ve been home from SEG for what? Two weeks? In a way it feels like its been two months and in a way it feels like its been two hours. I was trying to think of something brilliantly inspirational to write that would give you that feeling of being back on SEG, something that I saw in my day that was so inspiring it moved me to tears and repentance.
And I thought….and I thought.
I couldn’t come up with a single thing. Not one thing! And I was thinking “Come on Skolnick, you can do better than this…you have NOTHING?!?!” Sadly enough, I had nothing to write, no inspiration to share, no words of wisdom, insight, beauty… nothing.
Then it hit me smack between my eyes [I still have a bruise]:
I had nothing inspirational to write because I wasn’t LOOKING for it! I didn’t have my ‘G-d glasses’ on so I wasn’t finding Him. I knew that as soon as I would be on the look out I would find inspiration everywhere.
Guess what? That’s what happened.

I was in Chicago for a week on vacation with friends, and what is a vacation in Chicago if it does not include a baseball game? Unfortunately the Cubs were out of town so we went to a White Sox game instead. The game was awesome! [forgive my terribly small amount of baseball knowledge... an occupational haazard of being in the art room too much :)] We had fourth row behind third base and we could see everything. But what amazed me most of all was the excitement and enthusiasm that was coming from this crowd of people. Every time one of the WhiteSox players would hit a ball the crowd went wild! They cheered for every base, every hit, and every point. They were thrilled! But it was totally dwarfed by the energy and exhilaration that the crowd had when one of those balls was going to be a home run. Imagine the scene. The bases are loaded, one player steps up, smashes the ball; you hear the ball and bat collide with each other, and the ball goes flying… flying so high in fact that you’re sure it will never come back down. The crowd is out of their seats screaming, cheering THRILLED! And then… the other team catches the ball. It didn’t go as far as we thought. They were so disappointed. But then, a little while later, it happens again. The ball is going …going…going… you’re SURE this time, the crowd is even MORE excited than before! And no. the other team catches the ball…again. Now the crowd is disappointed and angry. And in about one second they are back to cheering on for their team. Drinkin a little l’chaim [read: beer] and having a good time. For the third time this evening, the ball is going so high, so fast. The crowd is even MORE excited than before, more charged… they cant contain themselves anymore, some people are on the bleachers, everyone is watching waiting and CHEERING… and then… the ball goes over! They struck a homerun! The fans are out of control! Music starts to blast and there are fireworks that shoot up from behind the stadium. It was amazing in every sense of the word.
There were two beautiful things I came away with [which was good since the White Sox lost that game pretty badly]. The first was how the White Sox fans cheered EVERY time a player hit a ball. The second was how each time that ball was on its way to making it a home run hit, the crowd went wild. The fact that the first few times their player got out didn’t deter the excitement, in fact it fueled it. And each time their team was so close to getting that hit…they went wild. When they were disappointed, it only lasted a small amount of time until they were right back cheering for their team again. And the excitement, pride and thrill when that ball went all the way and all of those players went home… it was palpable.
That is what is going on up with G-d when we do something good. Hashem is up there cheering with all His angels for every ball that we hit, even if we strike out in the end. We each have countless fans who are standing on their bleachers cheering for that homerun of ours. When we put in a little bit of effort we are rewarded with great amounts in return. You woke up one morning and smiled at your parents instead of giving them a scowl… there are thousands of fans cheering you on! You stopped yourself from saying a really juicy piece of gossip and you have malachim dancing for you! And they cheer, waiting with bated breath to see if you will pass your test of patience…and you are doing so so so so well that they almost cant handle the excitement…and you don’t pass. You blew up at your little sister. So your fans way up in Heaven are a little disappointed, but they keep on cheering you on regardless. And when you DO finally pass that test…and you sit down and help your little sister with her math homework… your Father in Heaven and all of the angles are cheering you on, there is music blasting, fireworks booming and the excitement is tangible. And its all because YOU did something great.
Hashem should bless you with the clarity to see those ‘angels in the bleachers’ who are cheering you on every step of the way!
Have a great week