The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
October 22, 2000
Vol. 3 no. 39

Everything But...
           My favorite sportswriter is Tom Boswell of the Washington Post, and not inconsequentially, his favorite sport and team is baseball's Baltimore Orioles. A collection of his columns, How Life Imitates the World Series, is the theme for today, an indisputable fact.
           Take this year for example: the New York Yankees and the New York Mets in a vaunted Òsubway Series." If there are some here who have survived riding the New York subway, we ought to form a support group.
           Who would I want to root for? New York is a city I have carefully avoided, but have always had to travel through or around since my high school years. Under the principle: ÒI will root for whichever team is playing the Yankees..." it would normally be easy. However, should I root for those Mets who beat my beloved Orioles in the 1969 World Series? I know that was 31 years ago, but some things you never forget!
           Who needs the Book of Job when you have a nightmare like this facing you for up to seven nights ahead in the next few weeks? Doesn't this prove the absurdity of fleshly existence? Is there any explanation for such unfairness?
           If God were to appear out of the whirlwind again to explain this latest game, would it be a satisfactory answer to say that the owners have too much money? Probably not. God's answer to Job seems more like an accusation than an answer to us: if you are able to create the world, then you can challenge the results. It is a response of awesome dimensions, laying bare the humility of the human race in the face of God who once gave the name: I Will Be What I Will Be. But it is where we must begin to look for the answers, and more importantly, our response to the absurdities and injustices of our mortal existence.