For the Joy set before us

Be free,... simple, a child.

But be a sturdy child, who fears nothing,
who speaks out frankly, who lets himself be led,

who is carried in the arms;
in a word, one who knows nothing, can do nothing,
can anticipate and change nothing,
but who has a freedom and a strength forbidden to the great.
This childhood baffles the wise,
and God Himself speaks by the mouth of such children.
Francois Fenelon

For the Joy set before us:

Spalding, or Wilson or Nike

didn't create the baseball as we know it.
A young boy, the son of a shoemaker,

first thought up that legendary stitch-and-curve pattern.

Ellis Drake was doodling in the classroom,

instead of paying attention to his teacher, when he happened upon it.
He took the design and sewed it up

using some leather from his father's shop.
As an adult, Ellis said, "Had I known its value, a fortune was mine.

Still, I have the rich reflection that it has afforded pleasure to the world.

The game would be a tame affair without that geometric form cover."

Ellis didn't get rich on his baseball design,

but that couldn't rob him of pleasure

in knowing his work brought pleasure to millions of others.

The joy in the doing is always a home run . . .
in the high calling of our daily work.
In the same way, we may never gain worldly fame or fortune

for the work of the kingdom of God.

That work however, will one day be revealed in heaven,

and we will have the pleasure of seeing the rich results

of many seemingly insignificant acts of kindness,

or integrity done to honor the Lord.

“It is God who works in you
to will and to act according to his good purpose.”
Philippians 2:13
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