Hitting Baseballs and Virtue
Baseball and the Spiritual Life
One of the greatest compliments given to a baseball player is the phrase “he has a good swing.”
This compliment refers to the hitter about his consistency and habit. Deep down, the compliment is about something the hitter possesses.
Often in baseball, there is a distinction that every player on the field makes. When a hitter comes up to the plate who “has a good swing,” the defense buckles up because the hitter has proven over time that he consistently and habitually puts a good swing on the ball.
When another hitter steps to the plate who occasionally gets a hit, the defense does not buckle up in the same fashion. It is understood that the occasional hitter does not “have a good swing” but rather occasionally gets a hit.
The difference is that one hitter possesses a good swing, and the other hitter does not. All baseball fans agree with this: a hitter who “has a good swing” has consistently proven this ability.
The spiritual life with virtue is no different. Virtue is a power within the soul that is perfected to choose the good, just as a good swing is a power within the hitter that becomes perfected to hit a baseball well.
In the same way baseball fans make a distinction between a hitter with a good swing and one who does not have a good swing, people also make this distinction concerning the virtues.
A person who possesses the virtue of patience consistently demonstrates patience. In differing circumstances, the patient person displays patience. An impatient person who suddenly shows patience is not patient. Virtue demands practice, repetition, and consistency.
Virtue is acquired through repetitive acts, much like a good swing is developed through repetitive practice. The good news is that by practice and repetitive acts of virtue, one can acquire virtues such as prudence, justice, courage, and temperance.
The philosopher Aristotle said, “We become builders by building and harpists by playing the harp.”
In today’s time, Aristotle would say that a baseball player becomes a good hitter by hitting just like the virtuous person becomes virtuous by acting virtuously.
Every good hitter in baseball asks this question: “Where is my weakness that can be strengthened by practice?” In the spiritual life, it is very healthy to ask oneself, “What virtues do I need to practice?”
Think about the virtues and practice them, for Aristotle says that the happy life is found by “virtuous activity of the soul.”
One of the most effective ways to practice is through imitation.
Young baseball players watch good baseball players and imitate their swings. As Christians, we must similarly imitate Jesus.
The great theologian, Saint Thomas Aquinas, once said, “The cross exemplifies every virtue.”
Go to Jesus, at the foot of the cross, and imitate Him. Reject what Jesus rejected on the cross and love what Jesus loved on the cross.
Fr. Luke Daghir
