I need many volunteers up here. What in the meaning of the phrase . . . “to throw like a girl?”
I have a number of sponge shapes. I want you each to take a few and throw them . . . like a girl. [Have them throw the shapes toward the pews.] If you are having a hard time doing that, try throwing them with your other hand.
[I ask the volunteers] So what does it mean to throw like a girl? [Elicit responses] It is a stereotype isn’t it? I think it refers to only using only your hand and forearm, that is, keeping your body fairly vertical (up and down). Whereas, not throwing like a girl seems to refer of using more of your body, that is using your whole arm and body and becoming more horizontal. I want you to try it again . . . throw like a girl and throw not like a girl.
There is a TV show called “Myth Busters” and on it they researched males and females throwing techniques and they conclude that there is no difference.
Do you know who Mo’ne Davis is? She is a 13 year old pitcher for the Taney Dragons from Pennsylvania who made a big impression at last summer’s Little League World Series. If her technique is what it means to throw like a girl . . . 70-mile-per-hour fastball with impeccable control . . . then I wish that I could throw like a girl. Wow, she had a shutout in the World Series, made the cover of Sports Illustrated and was interviewed on many major networks. The Disney Channel recently announced plans to produce a movie about her, titled THROW LIKE MO.
Well, here is where the story gets bad. With all this publicity there was a college baseball player from a school in Pennsylvania. He tweeted an ugly, racist comment about Mo. When the officials from his school found out about the tweet . . . they immediately dropped him from the team.
When Mo’ne found out about it, she emailed the president of the university, asking him to re-instate the player. Mo’ne wrote:
“While I admit I was pretty hurt when I read his comments, I felt sad that he was dismissed from the team . . . I am sure he worked very hard to get where he is and dreams of playing in the major leagues. For this reason, I’m asking you to please allow him back on the team so that he can continue to chase his dream. He made one dumb mistake. I’m sure he would go back and change it if he could.
She later said on ESPN Sports Center: “Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone deserves a second chance. I know he didn’t mean it that type of way. I know people get tired of seeing me on TV. But sometimes you got to think about what you’re doing before you do it. It hurt on my part, but he hurt even more. If it was me, I would want to take that back. I know how hard he’s worked. Why not give him a second chance?”
Remember . . . she’s 13. I believe that her compassion toward this guy, who tweeted some nasty stuff, reflects what Jesus was trying to teach in the gospel today. Jesus gives us a simply commandment eHeHLKJLKJKJLKJLKJLhEW*//*-KL;K;LKL;KL;UIUOIUOIUOIUIOUIOUIOUIOUIOOIUIUIOU
. . . to love. But it is not only to love those who love us. (Heck that’s easy, Jesus says in Matthew 5 that even the scoundrels of society do that).
But it is to love precisely those people: who don’t love us
who say or write mean things about us
who are hard to love.
That is exactly the point. Calling ourselves Christian (that is, Christ-like) must mean that we act and react differently. Our culture would tell us to get revenge, retaliate . . . or at least fight back when people are not nice to us. As Mo’ne experienced.
But the message of Jesus is very clear . . . we are to love. But how does one love an un-lovable person? How does one pray for one’s enemies? It is like this . . . pray for that person’s well-being. Pray that they can receive whatever will make them whole. It means promising NOT to do to them what they have done to us.
It does not mean praying that “the jerk” changes and starts agreeing with me. It means wishing the person well, even trying to understand why and where they are coming from. We all have a story.
That college baseball’s player Tweeter account was deactivated, but before it was, he apologized to Mo’ne for his comments. The University is still “standing firm” in their dismissal of the player.
I imagine that every one of us here has experienced hurtful comments. And I guarantee that each of you will receive a comment or harsh word from somebody in the future. Maybe it will not be about your throwing technique, but you will get hurt. And ultimately we cannot change others, we can only change ourselves. So when a harsh comments arrive at you . . . verbally, or on Tweeter, or through gossip, how are you going to respond?