a Greater Glory

Talk about a stirring title! Now that I have your attention, we are going to take a look at James 3:5-10 to see what exactly I am talking about:

So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

The tongue a muscle that we use for chewing and swallowing and the main organ that we use for tasting.  This muscle is one of the main reasons you are alive, without it you would be unable to process the nutrients you get from food that hasn’t been broken down yet.  While the tongue may be an important part of your body, it is also a part of your body that causes more controversy and can destroy everything that you have worked for in your life.  What will Bill Clinton be remembered for? Lying.  What will Ken Lay (Enron) be remembered for? Lying. What will Rafael Palmeiro, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens be remembered for? Lying and Baseball.

The ways in which each of these players have handled this has been different.  Sosa all of a sudden couldn’t speak English when he was asked about it.  Mark McGwire simply didn’t want to talk about the past.  Rodriguez lied about it, then kind of told the truth only once he was caught in his lie.  Palmeiro, Bonds, and Clemens well they still adamantly deny taking anything, or if they did they took it unknowingly.

In a recent ESPN interview Palmeiro still denies that he knowingly took anything and even hints at being “set-up”.  I am not saying that Palmeiro is lying or lied, but let’s use our imaginations a bit.  If I am a world class athlete and I work all year round to keep my body in peak condition and a  teammate offers me a “pill” don’t you think I might ask what it is? Second, let’s just say I don’t ask what the pill  is and just take it.  What percentage chances are there that on that specific day MLB is going to be doing drug testing?

To be quite honest and frank I beleive that Andy Pettitte handled this the best, he admitted to taking them and apologized.  What Pettitte did doesn’t make it right, but he at least handled it and spoke the right way about it.  When these players adamantly lie and say they didn’t do it, it only darkens their credibility more and more.  Eventually some new report comes out and implicates them further.  Then they have to back pedal and reword what they previously said.  It would be good if all athletes took the verses from James and memorized them or put them inside their locker.  The tongue can destroy so much of what they have created and it is a shame to see such great careers get taken through the mud.