All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts.
Human nature doesn’t change, so astute observations made by William Shakespeare more than four centuries ago still hold true to this day. It’s natural for us to see ourselves as the main characters in our own story, but in reality we all play small parts in the Great Story of mankind.
I believe that we can learn truths of human nature from sports as well. I’ve been indulging in some baseball nostalgia over the past few days, watching highlights and documentaries about my childhood team, the Seattle Mariners. Watching the career of superstar Ken Griffey Jr. got me thinking about the roles each of us play in our own stories.
Griffey was the son of Major League Baseball All-Star and World Champion Ken Griffey, so he came with the pedigree, but it was clear early in his career that he would inevitably eclipse his father in talent. Junior was an All-Star before he was old enough to buy beer, and by the mid-1990s was the most popular player not just in Seattle but in the world.
Yet anyone who knows baseball knows that Junior never lived up to his potential. Despite 13 trips to the All-Star Game, 10 Gold Glove Awards, 7 Silver Slugger Awards, the 1997 Most Valuable Player Award, and a nearly unanimous induction into the Hall of Fame, everyone knows it could have been even more.
In 1997, Griffey’s MVP season powered the Mariners to a second playoff appearance in three years, but the team somehow fell short to the Baltimore Orioles in the first round. After 1999, Griffey left Seattle to play for the Cincinnati Reds, the team where his father made his own name. But injuries cut short Junior’s potential, and he never quite reached the statistical stratosphere that characterized his years in Seattle.
Yet, as a commentator said in a video I watched, it doesn’t really matter. He played his part, bringing excitement to millions of people. More than his homeruns and highlight-reel catches, his infectious joy made everyone around him, even those of us who were only spectators, happy. He scored the winning run against the New York Yankees in Game 5 of the 1995 American League Division Series, perhaps the most famous moment in Mariners history.
Few of us will ever be as famous as Ken Griffey Jr. As I passed the age of 40 a couple of years ago I had to admit that a Major League Baseball career was not in the cards. Neither was my childhood dream of being an astronaut. Nevertheless we all have our own parts to play. Things probably won’t turn out the way we planned, but that’s okay. Out of the dozens, if not hundreds of people who could potentially be a future governor or legislative leader, only a handful will make it. Yet we all have something to contribute to the job of keeping the liberty and prosperity our Founding Fathers bequeathed us.
Maybe it’s time, maybe it’s money, maybe it’s ideas. Whether you’re a lawmaker, or a candidate, or a policy writer, or someone who knocks on your neighbors’ doors once a year, you are valuable. Wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, do it with joy and the confidence that comes of knowing you’re playing a part in the Great Story.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV
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About Brian Almon
Brian Almon is the Editor of the Gem State Chronicle. He also serves as Chairman of the District 14 Republican Party and is a trustee of the Eagle Public Library Board. He lives with his wife and five children in Eagle.
