From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Back in early August of this year there was a heartwarming story of an incident in a little league game in Waco, Texas.
In this tense playoff game righthander Kaiden Shelton of Pearless, Texas had a pitch get away from him and it struck Tulsa, Oklahoma batter, Isaiah Jarvis, on the helmet.
Jarvis went down and coaches quickly ran out to his aid.
He was deemed okay and proceeded to walk unaided to first base.
The pitcher, meanwhile, was standing with his head down, tears streaming down his young face, clearly upset at having hit this batter.
What happened next drew a standing ovation from the partisan Texas crowd.
The freshly-beaned Tulsa player left his spot at first base in order to console the distraught Texas pitcher with a tender hug.
“Hey, you’re doing great. Let’s go!” said Jarvis to his emotional opponent.
Coaches and players also gathered around the pair in a show of support.
Texas went on to win the game 9-4 and advance to the Little League World Series.
No charging the mound, no fisticuffs, and no bench-clearing brawl like we see in the big leagues.
Nope, just an extraordinary gesture of sportsmanship that nobody saw coming.
We can all learn from the tender heart of children from time to time.
In fact, Jesus said as much when describing the condition of the heart necessary to be right with God.
Here is what the Saviour said in Matthew 18:3: “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
We would all do well to pray and ask God for a soft heart and an understanding attitude as we make our way through this walk of life.
