{"id":3355,"date":"2024-02-01T21:29:54","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T02:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3355"},"modified":"2024-02-02T21:34:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-03T02:34:53","slug":"the-secret-of-contentment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/01\/the-secret-of-contentment\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret of Contentment"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,<\/em> click here<\/a>
 
Major League Baseball no-hitters are exceedingly rare.
 
The league\u2019s most storied franchise, the New York Yankees, have played more than 18,000 games since 1903.  Yet they\u2019ve only managed to pull off 13 of them. 
 
One of the most memorable happened on September 4, 1993, when Jim Abbott took the mound against the Cleveland Indians.  There was pandemonium when the last Cleveland hitter grounded out to shortstop \u2013 and not just because the Yanks had won another game without giving up a hit.
 
Abbott, a left-handed pitcher, was born without a right hand.
 
How is it possible for a one-handed pitcher to score a no-hitter, not to mention sustain a 10-year career in the majors?   
 
You just have to know Jim Abbott. 
 
The native of Flint, Michigan, grew up believing that he was not defined by what he didn\u2019t have.  Even though his right arm ended at his wrist, he learned to excel at sports.  He batted .427 one year for Flint Central High School, including seven home runs.  He was also the star quarterback of his school\u2019s football team. 
 
Abbott astonished onlookers with his pitching at the University of Michigan, and was the first baseball player to win the Sullivan Award as the nation\u2019s top amateur athlete.  He pitched the final game of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul when baseball was a demonstration sport, assuring America of the gold medal.  He even finished third in the American League Cy Young Award voting in 1991 when he was with the California Angels.
 
Sportswriter Mike Lupica once asked Abbott if there was anything he couldn\u2019t<\/em> do.  \u201cI can\u2019t button the darn buttons on my left cuff,\u201d he grinned. 
 
But let\u2019s get back to the basic mechanics of throwing a 90-mph fastball to the plate, then preparing, in the blink of an eye, to field your position. 
 
Lupica writes, \u201cAbbott was a wonder\u2026 The end of his right arm would go into the pocket of his glove.  He\u2019d throw the ball and then switch the glove to his left hand to catch or field.  If it was a ground ball, the glove would be pressed to his body under his shoulder by his right arm and he\u2019d throw somebody out.  It was all done so quickly and effortlessly it seemed to be magic.  Or sleight of hand.\u201d
 
And all without a hand.
 
Once, in high school, seven players in a row on the opposing team tried to bunt their way to first base.  Abbott threw out six of them.  So much for the notion that you should be able to take advantage of a disadvantaged person. 
 
In truth, Jim never saw himself as disadvantaged.  \u201cI hear a lot about how inspirational I am,\u201d he once said.  \u201cBut I don\u2019t see myself as being inspirational.  Whether you\u2019re rich or poor or one-handed or whatever, your own childhood just seems natural, because it\u2019s the only one you know.\u201d 
 
Without even trying, Abbott has provided inspiration to an entire generation of kids \u2013 some without hands, some without feet, some without arms or legs \u2013 who have dreamed of competing at the highest level.
 
We can define ourselves either by what we have or by what we don\u2019t have.  The first is the pathway of hope.  The second is the pathway to bitterness. 
 
What Jim Abbott grasps is the incredible power of contentment.  The apostle Paul told the young Christians at Philippi, \u201cI have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.   I can do all this through him who gives me strength\u201d (4:11-13). 
 
We can do all things through the One who gives us strength.<\/em>
 
God has gifted and equipped each of us to carry out whatever he has called us to do in this world.  And he will provide the strength we need if we choose to abandon ourselves to him.  That is the secret of contentment.
 
Of course, we live in a culture that finds that hard to believe.  If you\u2019re stuck with lousy circumstances, you owe it to yourself to trade up for better ones.  On this view, contentment is a condition that you must achieve through a lifetime of transactions. 
 
That\u2019s why we trade up for jobs that are more interesting and pay higher benefits.
 
We trade up for houses that have bigger yards and are closer to the best schools.
 
We trade up for friends who can open more doors and introduce us to a better crowd.
 
We trade up for churches that have grander music programs and more mature spiritual leadership.
 
We trade up for spouses and partners who are less annoying and more tolerant of our own charming eccentricities.
 
And then one day it dawns on us that we\u2019ve come to believe that happiness is always dependent on what we currently don\u2019t have<\/em>.  It\u2019s always just one more trade away. 
 
Yes, it\u2019s true that sometimes it\u2019s healthy and right to pursue better circumstances. 
 
But real happiness \u2013 more often than not \u2013 comes from staying, not going.  Playing the hand we\u2019ve been dealt instead of demanding a new deck.  Staying in a challenging relationship or situation far longer than we ever thought possible.
 
Happiness comes when we say, \u201cGod, help me receive your gift of contentment where I am already am<\/em>.  Even if my circumstances never change, remind me that You are all I have ever needed.\u201d 
 
And if we learn to live with such resolve?
 
Let\u2019s just say that would be a major league home run.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Major League Baseball no-hitters are exceedingly rare. The league\u2019s most storied franchise, the New York Yankees, have played more than 18,000 games since 1903.  Yet they\u2019ve only managed to pull off 13 of them.  One of the most memorable happened on September 4, 1993, when Jim Abbott took the mound against the Cleveland Indians. … Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[252,682],"class_list":["post-3355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-contentment","tag-disabilities"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3355"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3358,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3355\/revisions\/3358"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}