Manny Being Manny

Last night I was given the opportunity to attend the Orioles-Red Sox baseball game here in Baltimore.  Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a HUGE Red Sox fan.  And as luck would have it, one of our best players was on the verge of an historic achievement.  Manny Ramirez, the eccentric, "I'll do it my way" leftfielder, had the chance to join an historically small club of baseball titans: those who have hit 500 or more home runs in their career.

My friend, Bob, and I watched in the seventh inning last night as Manny did it; he launched a 410-foot shot to right center field.  It was a no-doubt-about-it home run.  Good for Manny.

Ramirez has received a lot of press the last few years for being, well, rather unique.  By all accounts, Manny marches to a different drummer.  So much so, that sportswriters coined the phrase "Manny being Manny" about him.  Like it or not, it's just his way and he refuses to cave in to the pressures of the masses who seem to imply he should do otherwise.

I have to admit, that while he is baffling and befuddling at times, I admire Ramirez for sticking to his guns.  He is going to be genuinely himself at all costs, and he doesn't seem to care if others think he ought to conform or not.  He's not going to be something he's not.  He loves what he does, and he seems to love life...and it shows!   That's just Manny being Manny.

This atttitude toward life and vocation and peer pressure is something I wish I showed more often personally, and saw more often collectively.  We as the church need to be non-conformists who are genuinely living out the life God gives us with joy and zest...and fun!  And when others don't understand (and they won't) and when others encourage us to fit into their mold (and they will), we need to genuinely stay focused on our Lord and the task He has for us at hand.  It may not be 500 home runs, but you know what?  I suspect it is eternally far more significant than that. 

"...Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."  Hebrews 12.1c-2a