When wondering out loud this morning about a topic for this week’s blog, my husband suggested the “squirrel on the rail.” Huh? Really? What was he talking about?

Rich and I are sincere baseball fans. We love to watch games together.  We know all the players. It makes for great discussion during the season and interesting speculation during the off-season.

Our primary team is the New York Yankees, but we enjoy watching all kinds of baseball from tee-ball through Little League, Babe Ruth League, college, and major leagues. Our local college team is on its way to the Junior College World Series, as I write this blog. They play this Saturday in Colorado. “Go Pats!”

Back to the squirrel… Last night’s Yankee/Orioles game was an edge of the seat game for both teams. They fought hard right up to the bottom of the 10^th inning when a rookie Yankee walked it off with a fly ball to centerfield.

However, the takeaway from the game for me was an audience scene of a group of young men amazed, astounded, or just plain scared by a chippy little gray squirrel running along the stadium railing in front of them. The camera work was expert. The squirrel was adept at skimming along the narrow rail, until he slipped and flew through the air landing with aplomb and grace on the field below.

Now why would I want to write about such a mundane event? Because for me it demonstrates so many of the blessings that our loving God has bestowed on us. There is the ability to be amazed, amused, entertained, scared-all emotions that add to the quality of our lives. There is the laughter and the camaraderie enjoyed with friends and even with those we don’t know, like the guy in the next seat at a baseball game.

Then there is the squirrel! What a marvelous little creature. Here he is minding his own business, maybe watching the game, maybe not, probably looking for some forgotten shelled peanuts on the stadium floor. Then he finds himself in the scary presence of all these humans and takes flight. God made these creatures! Wow!

We are loved unconditionally by a God who wants only the best for us all the time. Praise God for such love. Praise and thank God for the gifts we see around us that make our world bearable in the face of violence and hatred. Follow God’s example of love for all, unconditionally.

Terri