PHOTO: By Wendell Cruz - USA Today Sports
Spring training in baseball eventually gives way to the real season and before long, pitchers and batters are making debuts, returns and comebacks.
One former flamethrower for The New York Mets is called "The Dark Knight," so named for his powerful pitches and persona. Matt Harvey has gone through a few straight years that might be termed a sports "dark night of the soul." The seriously-injury-ridden star has to somehow arise from the ashes.
The leagues are filled with players who must arise or hang up their cleats…
Going through pneumonia and other health problems had landed me in bed and I felt sidelined in my own way. Physical therapy, x-rays, CT scans and too many doctor appointments on my calendar made it feel as if the world was spinning and I was just watching it go by.
Why do illnesses, injuries and setbacks occur in the first place?
It doesn’t take a lot of thought for one simple conclusion. I’ve had a good run with limited health issues - especially by comparison to some of the other patients I’ve seen at PT or in the imaging centers.
It makes you thankful for every day that you had a bounce in your step. It’s very hard not to take good times for granted because they seem so normal; even deserved or “justified” when life is moseying along.
The interesting thing about arising is that our comeback may be a bit different than we think.
In Harvey’s case, his manager said they didn’t need him to be “The Dark Knight.” The Mets just need him to be the best that he can be.
That tweak may be one of those profound lessons of the dark night of his soul…and ours.
PORTAL TO HEAVEN: Like a dark cloud that spreads open and lets a burst of light through, the bleak times sometimes allow for the brightest portals - they are hard to miss.
Marvel not, my brethren…Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise…When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place…I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me…The Lord has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
1 John 3:13 KJV, Micah 7:8 KJV, Psalm 118:5,13,18