The Little League Pledge rings in the ear and heart of anyone who has played Little League Baseball.
The words can bring back memories of standing on those white foul lines and looking out at the American flag, eyeing up the opposing team, being filled with butterflies, dreaming of hitting a home run, spitting sunflower seeds in the dugout, warming up the arm with Dad in the backyard, and handing Mom one’s dirty socks after the game.
The pledge does more than recall memories, though - it challenges us to step out of ourselves and into reality.
Recall the words, “I trust in God. I love my country and will respect its laws. I will play fair and strive to win, but win or lose - I will always do my best.” It is interesting to note the order of this pledge: God, country, laws, playing fair, striving to win, and doing one’s best. The self – I will always do my best – comes only at the end.
The greatest spiritual masters throughout Christian history agreed upon this pivotal spiritual truth: your life is not about you. It is the same truth that The Little League Pledge encourages to foster in each ball player.
St. Thomas Aquinas, the great theologian and philosopher of the 13th century, defined love as willing the good of the other as the other. The heart of the spiritual life is not about you - it is about the other.
We also read in Scripture, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8). Remember – love is to will the good of the other; it is not directed toward the self.
The Little League Pledge seeks to align the young ball player properly with reality: God is first, not me. Lastly, notice how the game has yet to begin, and baseball is already forming the young ball player for life.
+ Fr. Ben Daghir