St. Luke's Blogs

It was 1950 when Vincent Scully began his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 2016, the great Vin Scully ended his 67-year career with the now Los Angeles Dodgers. Not only is Vin Scully widely considered one of, if not the best play-by-play broadcasters, he holds the record for the longest time with any one sports franchise. Scully passed away this week at the age of 94. During his career, he witnessed some of the greatest moments in baseball history and his voice is now synonymous with those moments.

It was on September 25, 2016, that Vin Scully called his last Dodgers Baseball game. At the end of that game, Scully made a brief speech…

It’s been over 40 years ago that I made my first trip to New York City.  I was in college and with a good friend of mine, we loaded up our bags and took my Volkswagen Beetle and traveled across a good part of the eastern United States.  But New York City was the high point of this journey.  We saw several Broadway shows, including Yul Brynner in a revival of The King and I, plus had the opportunity to see Jack Lemon and Jessica Tandy in plays.  The show we really wanted to see was the smash hit, A Chorus Line.  It had debuted three years earlier and was on its way to becoming the longest running Broadway show in history until Cats broke their record in 1997.  It was a tough ticket to get.  My friend and I were able to snag two “standing room only” tickets and gladly stood at the back of the Schubert Theater to see this amazing show about an ensemble of dancers auditioning for the chorus line.

Of course, competition is fierce to land a role in a Broadway show, even in the chorus, and the dancers share their feelings about how badly they need the role… how badly they need the job!  They sing, “I Hope I Get It”…

In the hit Broadway musical, Come from Away, stories are told of the amazing people of Gander, Newfoundland.  Through their hospitality and kindness, people from all over the world are welcomed and cared for on the morning of September 11, 2001.

After the terrorist attacks of that morning, all air traffic was grounded in the United States.  All international flights were either sent back to their originating airports or redirected to a new location, outside of the U.S.  Thirty-eight large airliners were redirected to the small community of Gander, located on the far northwestern edge of Canada.  The small community of just under 10,000 would now welcome 7,000 new guests.

For the next several days, the people of Gander opened their doors to care for those who had “come from away.”

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” – Philippians 4:13

There are a lot of things in this world that seem to be “not fair.”  We first hear this from children when they are playing, or someone gets something, or does something another child can’t. We also have these feelings as adults, but most of the time we know how to express these feelings in a mature way.

Growing up and being an adult is hard in so many ways, especially when you look back and see how easy it was being a child. Hindsight is always 20/20.  I have had to learn some hard lessons, and all of them have made me a better person. Life lessons have always been a learning tool for me, from the time I was a teenager until now.

I never wanted to go to college after high school, I had enough of school, and it was by God’s grace that I ever even graduated…

The original cast of Hamilton helped to bring this work to life. Telling the history of Alexander Hamilton and the powerful story of the start of our country was a challenge. Their amazing talent and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s exceptional imagination and writing skills helped to tell this story in a modern, amazing way.

Leslie Odom Jr. was part of the original cast. He played Aaron Burr, the founding father who shot Alexander Hamilton in a dual. For his work on stage bringing the character of Aaron Burr to life, Leslie Odom Jr. won the Tony for Best Actor in a Musical. Along with the rest of the original cast, Leslie Odom Jr. has gone on from Hamilton to have great success on stage and in Television and the Movies. Leslie is now a published author with the release of his first book, Failing Up: How to take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning.

Like so many, success did not come easily for Leslie Odom Jr…

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever.

O give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever.

O give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures for ever

In the Gospel of Luke, there is a brief story that takes place as Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Jerusalem. They were in an area that was occupied by Samaritans. Some Samaritans had heard that Jesus was in the area. These Samaritans were afflicted by leprosy. They set out in search of Jesus and when they found him, they begged him, “Have mercy on us.”

Jesus did not flee from the men in fear for his health. He did not hold back mercy from them because they were Samaritans and not Jews. Jesus extended mercy. He offered all ten healing and invited them to go see the priests. In the time of Jesus, it was the priest who certified healing. When they arrived at the priest…

“So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” -Galatians 6:10 […]

Albert Pujols is one of the best hitters in baseball. His hitting records are comparable to Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Willie Mays. There is little doubt that he will be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Recently, Albert Pujols added a new award to his long list of well-deserved honors. At the 2022 ESPN “ESPY” awards, Pujols was awarded the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award. This award is given to the athlete who, “continuous, demonstrated leadership has created a measured positive impact on their community through sports.” There is no doubt that Albert Pujols has excelled on the field, but he has also helped others thrive beyond the stadium.

Albert founded the Pujols Family Foundation in 2005. The purpose of this foundation is to help the people of the Dominican Republic, his home country, and to help children and families living with Down syndrome. His daughter, Isabelle, has Down syndrome…