don't you know it's hard?

yesterday, after i invested an extra hour and a half in the game, basically ignoring my wife and child in the process, the cardinals were finally vanquished by a youkilis homer in the bottom of the thirteenth. when the cardinals survived inning opening doubles by the sox in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth, i feared that losing would be a tough blow. however, although i might have uttered an unholy word when youk's ball cleared the centerfield fence, i was able to let go of the game surprisingly quickly and rest in the fact that we won the series and took the sox to the limit.

now that we are almost three full months in, i am ready to admit that this is one of my favorite cardinals teams of all-time. these boys aren't as talented as the brewers, don't have hear the budget of the, admittedly impressive, scrubs and their pitching staff couldn't be worse off if they had spent the first quarter of the season in abu graib instead of extended spring training. yet, these boys have scrapped and clawed their way eleven games over .500 and they are currently sitting in the wildcard catbird seat. much like the yankees of the mid-90s, yet with far, far less talent, these boys have shown they know how to grind.it.out. i think tony la russa, dave duncan and all the rounders such as ludwick, schumaker and molina should all be issued wallets that read - _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - if you know what i mean. these guys know the game is hard and they play it hard. if they were pilots, i'd say they were flying "ice cold with no mistakes."

i, on the other hand, am a candy ass who utilizes doubt, cynicism and resignation as a screen to filter the hard realities of life and hold out hope that life is going to become easier. just this weekend i read an interview with tim keller at christianity today, in which he states that Christ followers should not water down the demands and complications of the gospel lest we fail to let people know that "to be a Christian is going be very, very hard." for some reason, that odd little sentence attributed to keller really sliced me open.

to live a prayerful life is hard. to chose to serve instead of seeking to be served is hard. to believe that the poor are the rightful inheritors of the Kingdom is hard. to bind my desires for relevance and influence and lead them up to mount moriah is hard.

so today i'm trying to mind keller's wisdom and follow in the footsteps of aaron miles and my beloved boys of summer. it's far past time to set the user-friendly faith i've been trying to forge aside in order to follow in the hard footsteps of Jesus.