Invisible athletes

8/31

A quiet day filled with administrative issues. I’m waiting on the steps for Danielle to open up the doors. A couple comes up. Wants to know about the church. I tell them a little bit. They ask if it’s my church. I say, Yes, I’m the pastor. I say I’d like to invite them in and they see Danielle opening  the door. 

I bring them in. Show them around. Talk about the history. And the social history. They’re from Los Angeles. Don’t see so many old churches there. I leave them for a minute, see the woman checking out the plaque for the Stephen window. I tell them the story.

As they’re getting ready to leave, I ask what brings them to the city. Turns out they’re here for the World Fire and Police Games. ( http://2011wpfg.org/) Over 17,000 athletes from around the world here to compete. Irene threw the Games for a loss.  Over 4500 athletes had to leave without having competed. Our visitor is a softball player. The had to go to Hicksville, Long Island for their competition.

I tell them about our own softball team. All the beautiful fields in Central Park. He shakes his head. Your city’s not been so hospitable, he said. They made it too difficult to get permits. Mayor Bloomberg’s not so big on police and fire fighters. Other cities are excited for us to be there. It’s like we're not even here.

Solves a mystery for me. Andrea had encountered an Australian team of some kind and couldn’t quite figure out what they were up to. Thought it strange that there  could be a major international athletic competition and not a word about it anywhere. There are over 4000 from Canada alone, not to mention Africa, China. And of course Australia. 

I wish them well, see them off.

Just enough tangled affairs with legal matters to end the day depressed. Sometimes it's too much.

And the weather....as close to perfect as you can get.  Wish I could enjoy it.