I cheated.  My confession is that I did indeed cheat.  Worse than that is the truth that my plan was to cheat.  Breaking the rules did not even change my mind about it.  It felt good to do it.  Odds are good that I would do it again if given the opportunity.  Cheating was fun and I still don't feel awful about it.  The topic is pitching in baseball.  Skirting or ignoring the rules was one of those things I did.  Now don't confuse my confession for pride.  My only desire is to admit to what I did.  The rest may be painful to read should you expect me to come remotely close to perfect. 

Baseball is a game where any advantage is welcome.  It was while on the mound that my failures happened.  You learn that a ball with a scuff on it no longer does just what you ask it to do.  The rotation of a pitched ball changes when there is a scuff or cut on it.  I learned how to use that to my advantage.  There is also the fact that a pitcher can hold the ball in such a way you put tiny marks on it with your belt.  It is also true that part of my practice was to use the old spitball on occasion.  What you do is wipe your brow with the pitching fingers then replace the hat without drying those fingers.  You actually wind up more with a "sweat ball" but you get the idea.  You may not know all a pitch may do but it is a given the unusual will happen.  Those were the days!

Motivation for this topic comes from last night's baseball game where a pitcher for the New York Yankees was ejected for using a different substance while pitching.  Pine tar was his weapon of choice.  Michael Pineda already went through one game with the goop around his glove.  Last night his approach was to put a big old patch of pine tar on his neck.  It was literally impossible to miss.  Ejection was the only alternative once the umpires examined him on the mound.  Some wonder why a person in the dugout did not stop him before taking the field?  Surely they knew that pine tar on the neck would end badly?  Then some question the need to take such a short cut when there are other answers.  These inquiries matter little after the fact.  Damage was already done.

We cheat in our spiritual life by looking for short cuts in growth.  Some do it by waiting for God to send a huge deluge on them to curtail the troubles of life.  Others may do it by skipping out on the spiritual life when things get hard.  That is the approach of waiting until life calms down to return to religion.  Another short cut is in ignoring reality whether eternal or earthly.  We just go our merry way as if nothing was wrong.  Cheating in these ways will keep us from drinking deep from God.  Learn to take your counsel from God before looking for such a short cut.  He will tell you to take the pine tar off or leave it alone.  He is more than enough to get you through.

Bro. Trey