By Jim Nichols

I forget stuff all the time; do you?

The catcher called “time out” and jogged to the pitcher’s mound. Have you ever wondered what they talk about? One report is that the catcher is reminding the pitcher of some concerns of importance to the game. He speaks to the pitcher: “Remember, this next batter cannot hit inside fast balls well. There is only one out. Our centerfielder apparently tripped on that last hit to the outfield and appears to be limping.”

The interviewer asked, “Surely, the pitcher knows this batter cannot hit an inside fast ball, that there is one out, and that the centerfielder may not be able to run quite so fast.” The catcher replied, “Yes, he probably does already know all that, but I wanted to remind him. When he pitches and the batter hits the ball, I want him to act with a plan and not have to stop and think what to do.”

You and I as humans have this same tendency to forget things and it is to our advantage to have reminders, especially if the forgotten items have high importance.

Many of us grew up attending Sunday morning church services of some sort. That activity was part of our weekly routine and may continue even today. If that is your case, can you sense how you feel when you miss that regular activity? It is not that something memorable or unusual occurs each week, but, when you miss a service, you feel a gap in your life. Why is that and why do we miss it?

Clearly, we miss reminders of God’s grace and forgiveness and miss hearing the role that Jesus played. As fundamental as those aspects of faith are, our tendency is to forget them (or at least act forgetfully), and trudge on through life thinking that our happiness and well-being are our personal responsibility; we can take care of ourselves, thank you. In our better moments, we live as God’s people, but much of our daily lives occur rather spiritually mindless. We need reminding and one avenue is through routine gathering with others who share those beliefs.

Besides the function of “reminding,” gathering as a congregation provides important community prayer opportunities. A woman in our congregation spoke eloquently about this. She had been undergoing vigorous treatment for breast cancer and told us how heavy the distress and worry was for her. “I was so caught up in my own health concerns that I simply was unable to pray about it myself; frankly, it was embarrassing. But I was buoyed by knowing that you as a group were praying in my stead. Your prayers basically substituted for mine and did something I was unable to do.” It was a powerful testimony.

Her comments were a reminder of a musical illustration of substitution and addition. Those singing in a chorus or playing a wind-driven instrument know and practice the technique of “staggered breathing.” The conductor instructs the singers or players not to breathe together in certain sections of the score. If someone runs out of breath, they can drop out knowing that others are still singing or playing so the musical line continues unbroken. Since the singers/players are taking a breath at various times, the notes are sustained. This type of orchestration is fundamental to the smooth performance of certain music sections. Endurance is demonstrated not by individuals, but by the group. This is what the woman with the illness was sensing in a spiritual manner.

It is not an insult to admit that each of us is a player or singer surrounded by other players and singers. None of us may be particularly talented or effective in our musical contribution, but we are surrounded by others who fill in for us. When our breath is taken away by life, we keep breathing God’s spirit through others around us. Do not miss that life-giving blessing. Find the other members of your chorus and breathe with them.

Jim Nichols is a retired Abilene Christian University biology professor and current hospital chaplain