“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven….” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Last night I finished watching the Ken Burns documentary on Jackie Robinson. Afterwards, two thoughts occurred to me. First, I was reminded how much difference one person can make. I am not suggesting that we can all have the impact that Robinson had, but one person, each person, can make a difference some way, somehow. Second, I am reminded that time brings perspective in ways nothing else can. While history is being made every day it is easy to miss the significance in the moment because things look different, or I see them differently, in the distant reflection in the rear-view mirror. Of course I can look back now and appreciate the significance of Robinson’s breaking the racial barriers in baseball, but it takes a while to gain perspective and appreciate significance. If one needs proof of that consider that Robinson retired in 1956, was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1960, but was generally not even recognized by Major League Baseball thereafter until throwing out a World Series first pitch shortly before he died in 1972. Heck, his Baseball Hall of Fame plaque doesn’t even mention his breaking the color barrier.
All of which leads to the questions – What difference can I make! What history is being made now that I am watching, perhaps even a part of?
It occurs to me... 