Making Connections

About a month ago we took a family vacation. We rented a house and invited our grown kids to come and spend a few days with us in Cooperstown, NY (the home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame). This year two of my favorite players from my earliest days as a Twins fan, Tony Oliva and Jim Kaat, were being inducted into the Hall of Fame

Violet told someone about our trip and the person responded, “I don’t get it. Seems like idol worship.”

Nope. That person definitely did not “get it!” The trip wasn’t about baseball players or the game. It was about family, making memories and connections. 

I love baseball, because it was a connection with my dad - one of the first connections I can remember. That connection started one summer night in 1965 at about 10 o’clock. (This was the year the Twins won their first pennant!) I was five years old. My mom had already gone to bed, and Dad was in the kitchen listening to the ball game on a radio we had that sat on a shelf up high. Mom sent me out to tell Dad it was time to turn the radio off and come to bed. I went out. But before I could open my mouth, Dad said, “C’mere. You gotta hear this!” And he scooped me up and put my ear to the radio. A lifelong connection was made! Baseball was a connection with my dad that endured until he died. To this day, I still much prefer listening to games on the radio over watching them on TV, because that’s what dad did. (If memory serves, what I heard that night was the replay of an important home run by Harmon Killebrew!)

Reflecting on that day, it struck me that the connection was made, not because dad convinced me to like baseball by using statistics or logic or anything else. He simply made an invitation for me to join him in something that he enjoyed. What kid (or grandkid) doesn’t want a parent (or grandparent) to invite them to share in a happy experience!

Then this thought hit me: “That’s just how Jesus did it too!” He made connections with his disciples, not by giving them a lengthy dissertation on why they should follow Him or by reciting proofs that He really was the Messiah. He simply made an invitation, “Follow me,” or “Come and see.” 

I guess the lesson is two-fold. First, if you’re a parent or grandparent wanting to make a connection with a child (no matter what age), try giving a simple invitation for them to join you in some activity you enjoy. And second, if you are wanting to connect someone to Jesus, a simple invitation to “Come and see,” could be the best place to start.