Perhaps the greatest baseball player of all time was Babe Ruth. As he got older, Babe Ruth had a tough time at the plate and he made a lot of errors in the outfield.
I love an old story about the Babe during his last year of baseball. He had been traded by the Yankees. His new team, the Boston Braves, was playing the Cincinnati Reds. Babe Ruth wasn't the player he once had been. He wasn't throwing well that day, and he made several costly errors.
He got up to bat and struck out. He walked back to the dugout, embarrassed and discouraged. Some people in the stands were booing him.
According to the story, a young boy was sitting in the front row near the dugout. He simply could not take it anymore. He loved Babe Ruth, no matter what. So he jumped out of his seat and ran on the field. He ran to Babe Ruth as he was walking to the dugout and threw his arms around his legs and started crying.
The crowd suddenly became very quiet. Babe Ruth picked the boy up and gave him a big hug and put him back down on the ground and very gently patted his head. They walked hand in hand back to the dugout.
The crowd stopped booing as they remembered all that Babe Ruth had done for the game of baseball, his love for children and his love for life. A quietness came over the park, and then they rose to their feet with cheers and applause.
Today, let’s remember the power of encouragement. Let’s remember that our words, our actions have the incredible power to lift someone’s spirit. May God use us this day to do that for someone!