C.S. Lewis and Baseball
Nearness by Approach
Baseball has always had fashion fads that come and go. Currently, flat-brimmed hats, wrap-around sunglasses, and even haircuts designed specifically for wearing baseball caps are in style.
Deep down, though, every baseball fan knows that it is not enough to just look like a ball player. While looking the part is the first step, one must take the leap and actually learn and play the game. One must approach the game to draw near. The umpire says, “Play ball!” not “Look like ball players!”
C.S. Lewis, the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, once discussed two themes in Christianity: nearness by likeness and nearness by approach. Lewis's main idea is that every human has a nearness by likeness to God since we are made in His image and likeness. However, according to Lewis, nearness by likeness is not enough. Think of the fallen angels who rejected God; they, too, had a nearness by likeness as rational beings. For Lewis, there must also be a nearness by approach.
Lewis describes this difference with the following short story. He shared that we could think of villagers returning to their homes after a long journey. They reach the edge of a steep cliff, look down, and see their homes far below. Lewis calls this moment the nearness by likeness. They are close, but it is not enough. For Lewis, the villagers must walk about 5 miles backwards and wrap around the mountain to their village below. If the villagers wait above the cliff, they will appear close to home, but that is merely an appearance instead of reality. Once the villagers begin walking the 5 miles, they enter a nearness by approach and are closer to the village than when looking over the cliff’s edge.
To carry the metaphor forward, it is the difference between being near by likeness as one who looks like a ball player and being near by approach as one who gets on the field and enters the game.
Every baseball player and Christian needs to ask themselves this question: “Am I focused on a nearness by approach or am I just settling for a nearness by likeness?”
Similar to the villagers, take the first step of approaching the village. In the steps of nearness by approach, one draws closer to becoming a ball player, and for Christians, being in union with God.
Take some time and contemplate the following words of Jesus: “Come follow me.” In other words, to draw near to God by approach.
Fr. Luke Daghir
