Changes, expected and unexpected

The decision to change the name took place last December. The logo disappeared in 2019. There’s no point defending the Cleveland Indians name or Chief Wahoo logo anymore. Those ships have sailed.

The remaining question: What would the Major League Baseball team call itself going forward?

We know now. It’s the Guardians.

The name, announced July 23, came from four pairs of “guardians of traffic” statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge near Progressive Field, home of the baseball team, in downtown Cleveland.

The name will grow on us. It doesn’t contain the controversy that “Indians” does. It also passed trademark requirements, which eliminated other potential names (Spiders, an Indians predecessor in the late 1800s, is owned by the University of Richmond, and Rockers, for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, is close to “Rockies,” already a Major League Baseball team).

The logo – a “G” with wings around a baseball – apparently was rushed. We’ll see how that sells.

The new Guardians’ logo.

Because that’s the point of a logo, which the Indians haven’t had for three years since Chief Wahoo was decommissioned. Logos sell merchandise – hats, T-shirts, pennants, mugs, all kinds of things.

The team introduced the name and logo now, several months before they become official at the end of the 2021 season, to give fans time to vent and the team time to make that merchandise and begin marketing it.

Guardians.

It’s unique among the major professional sports.

As team executives talked with fans and civic leaders about a possible new name, they asked what people think when they hear the word “Cleveland.”

“We heard things like loyalty, pride and resiliency in being from Cleveland,” Brian Barren, president of business, told Terry Pluto of cleveland.com. “They’re protective of our city. They’re protective of the land and everything about it. Those all became part of what Guardians really started to evoke from an emotional standpoint.”

The team did its homework, and came up with a name that should stick. They didn’t want something trendy that they’d have to change every few years, because changing identity is costly – emotionally and financially.

Fans will be allowed to bring their Indians gear to ballgames next year and thereafter. We can’t throw away a century of memories, and team executives know that. I have a T-shirt with the Chief Wahoo logo on it, and I’ll continue to wear it – not as any kind of political statement, but because I support the baseball team. And it’s a nice shirt, a birthday present from my wife a few years ago.

Will I buy Guardians gear? Possibly. I collect pins, and if I see a Cleveland Guardians pin, I’m sure I’ll get one.

With the mood of the nation at a crossroads, I think the Cleveland baseball team’s brain trust did well with their name and logo. They also will keep the Indians’ color scheme and script, so the changes aren’t as extreme as they could have been. Well done, team.

Story lines that mirror our lives

Speaking of the mood of the nation, many of us now are enjoying the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, delayed a year by the worldwide pandemic – which still rages across much of the world. Indeed, Japanese and Olympic officials are not allowing fans to see any events in person because COVID-19 is surging in the Asian nation.

Some want to make the Olympics political, focusing on podium protests or decrying the pandemic limitations. I prefer to watch the Olympics for what it is: nations large and small sending their best athletes to compete against one another on a world stage.

Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines won the women’s 55-kilogram weightlifting match at the Tokyo 2020 Games — her country’s first Olympic gold medal.

I love the upsets and underdog stories. The Philippines just won its first-ever gold medal, in women’s weightlifting, and they’ve been competing in the Olympics for 97 years. San Marino, a tiny nation surrounded by Italy, just won its first medal of any kind, in women’s trap shooting. A 17-year-old swimmer from Alaska won the 100-meter breaststroke gold medal, an upset no one saw coming.

These kinds of stories give me hope. If I work hard and give my best, perhaps I can succeed at my goals too, whatever they are. I hope you are inspired as well.

In all three stories I just referenced, the heroes were women. That might be coincidence; it might not be.

Of course, the biggest Olympics story in this country now is Simone Biles withdrawing from gymnastics competition because of mental health issues. There’s more to her story than the quick sound bites are telling, I’m sure. Ridiculous expectations. Scandal in the women’s U.S. gymnastics program. She’s healthy, but other athletes have been forced to perform while injured, some seriously.

I’m not a mental health expert by any means, but the fact that many of us are so quick to judge her for withdrawing proves the point. Very few of us are experts. Here’s an opportunity to listen and learn – and possibly improve our own behavior, because the rest of us might just be part of the problem.

Yes, Simone is ultimately responsible for her own actions, but what have we done to encourage her? Support her? Help her succeed? Not because she requires an endorsement deal, but because she’s a young woman who happens to have world-class talent in a sport that we enjoy watching.

She’s not a one-woman team, you know. The U.S. women’s gymnastics team has other wonderful athletes, too, who can step up and show their skills.

I said I enjoy upsets and underdog stories. For those to happen, that means the favorite doesn’t win.

I watched a cross-country mountain bike race the other day where one medal contender fell on the first lap, and another got a flat tire near the end. Huge disappointments for both of them.

But that opened the door for a part-time racer from Great Britain to win the gold medal.

Frustration and joy.

The Olympics has many story lines that mirror our lives. A flat tire derailing years of effort to win a medal? No one ever said life was fair.

Let’s celebrate the winners, and honor all the competitors giving their best.

Pursuing the Olympic spirit

I haven’t written much recently, and maybe that’s a good thing. There are fewer hot-button issues out there than there were a year ago.

Sure, some people are protesting whether to allow protests at the Olympics. The worldwide sporting event is all about unity and competition, and not about politics. Can’t we set our differences aside for two weeks and enjoy our fittest athletes pursuing excellence?

Unity through sports

Or is unity so unreachable, that we’ve given up hope on ever attaining it, so we no longer even try?

Sports is a wonderful unifier. No matter your race, religion, upbringing, culture, language or place of origin, if you excel as a runner, swimmer, soccer player, table tennis player or boxer, you are offered a platform where you have a chance to earn a medal as one of the best in the world at what you do. (Hot dog eating contests don’t count, sorry.)

I wish we could enjoy sports just because they’re there. Baseball, football and basketball used to be like that in this country, too. I think instant replay has done more harm to those sports than athletes’ protests have, because replay takes the human element – we are humans after all – out of them.

Deep thinking required

Right or wrong, we revere our athletes. That gives them a platform that most of us don’t have to share their views on issues of the day. (Social media has closed the gap somewhat.)

LeBron James, Serena Williams and now Naomi Osaka are almost as well known for their stances on social issues as they are for their athletic performances. Good for them. If you don’t agree, that’s your right. But if they challenge your thinking, they’ve done their job.

If you disagree, mount a defense. A one-sentence meme doesn’t cut it. Does Osaka have a right to shun the media at high-profile tennis tournaments? Think it through before you offer an opinion.

My news feed is much tamer these days than it was a year ago. I have unfollowed a number of friends who hold strident views, declare those views often, and could care less what the rest of us think. I have no patience for that anymore.

If you’d like to have an intelligent discussion, I’m all in – even if I disagree with you. You have your reasons, and so do I. I’m not afraid to make you uncomfortable if that’s what it takes to get your attention. If you can express a viewpoint I haven’t considered before, I’m indebted to you.

Higher values

But I’d rather focus on issues that unify us, if any of those exist anymore.

Several times a month, I volunteer with the American Red Cross, registering donors at blood drives. I served at one recently at the organization’s Lorain County (Ohio) office. I saw a plaque on the wall listing its five values. They are:

• Compassionate: We are dedicated to improving the lives of those we serve and to treating each other with care and respect.
• Collaborative: We work together as one Red Cross family, in partnership with other organizations and always embrace diversity and inclusiveness.
• Creative: We seek new ideas, are open to change and always look for better ways to serve those in need.
• Credible: We act with integrity, are transparent guardians of the public trust and honor our promises.
• Committed: We hold ourselves accountable for defining and meeting clear objectives, delivering on our mission and carefully stewarding our donor funds.

Now I know why I like the Red Cross so much. Those are values I can get behind.

And like the Olympics, the Red Cross is an international organization that serves anyone who needs its services. It offers these fundamental principles:

• Humanity: The Red Cross, born of a desire to bring assistance without discrimination to the wounded on the battlefield, endeavors — in its international and national capacity — to prevent and alleviate human suffering wherever it may be found. Its purpose is to protect life and health and to ensure respect for the human being. It promotes mutual understanding, friendship, cooperation and lasting peace amongst all peoples.
• Impartiality: It makes no discrimination as to nationality, race, religious beliefs, class or political opinions. It endeavors to relieve the suffering of individuals, being guided solely by their needs, and to give priority to the most urgent cases of distress.
• Neutrality: In order to continue to enjoy the confidence of all, the Red Cross may not take sides in hostilities or engage at any time in controversies of a political, racial, religious or ideological nature.
• Independence: The Red Cross is independent. The national societies, while auxiliaries in the humanitarian services of their governments and subject to the laws of their respective countries, must always maintain their autonomy so that they may be able at all times to act in accordance with Red Cross principles.
• Voluntary service: The Red Cross is a voluntary relief movement not prompted in any manner by desire for gain.
• Unity: There can be only one Red Cross society in any one country. It must be open to all. It must carry on its humanitarian work throughout its territory.
• Universality: The Red Cross is a worldwide institution in which all societies have equal status and share equal responsibilities and duties in helping each other.

You see, there are values higher than partisan politics. It can be done.

We can do better

I’m sure there are other venues and organizations that serve us with similar principles.

With the 2020 summer Olympic Games (they were delayed a year by COVID-19) upon us, let’s take a minute to put down our swords and bring up our plowshares, to use a biblical phrase. Let’s just enjoy the Games for what they are: the best athletes in the world competing at the highest level. Let’s celebrate achievement, and let’s honor effort.

Let’s also be inspired to do our best in life, to give our best effort. Let’s encourage each other to do the same.

If all of us can do that, perhaps protests won’t even be needed.

Nationalism has no place in heaven

Our church supports a dozen missionaries around the world. Our missions coordinator is interviewing them on social media each month to help us understand how their efforts are impacting people around the globe.

The June “missionary of the month” was a young gal serving in the Middle East. Her name was not given and her face not shown in the interview to protect her identity, since she serves in a dangerous part of the world.

We watched an hour-long documentary detailing the work her missions organization is doing in several Middle Eastern countries. The stories were powerful. In one, three Palestinians described how they were raised to hate Jews and the Israeli nation. Yet when they were exposed to the Bible, they discovered that the living God is Jewish, and that He loves Israel. Somehow, God changed their hearts – and now these Palestinians love Israel, as God does.

If that’s not loving your enemies (Matthew 5:44), I don’t know what is.

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, I think of people like these. A couple who are good friends from college have served as missionaries in the Ukraine for many years. Another friend we met when we lived west of Chicago for a year serves in the Philippines and other areas of the world.

As Christians, we don’t think outward nearly enough.

As Americans, we think the world revolves around us – and not just on the Fourth of July. I discovered this 30 years ago when, while I was visiting Mexico City, the United States invaded Iraq. In the U.S., the news coverage focused only on what government leaders in Washington, D.C., were thinking. In Mexico City, the TV station we watched showed brief reports from Tokyo, Bonn, London, Johannesburg, Beijing, Paris, Moscow, Washington, Mexico City, Bogota, and numerous other world capitals. A worldwide story demands worldwide exposure. We don’t get that here – because we don’t want it.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 3:20

This is why I see a red flag (not a red, white and blue flag) when Christians mix faith and politics. We worship a God who is much bigger than that.

A good friend recently wore a T-shirt that says “JesUSAves”, with an American flag that replaced the stars with a cross. We can be very thankful to worship in a free country, and I’m sure that’s what my friend meant when he wore that shirt.

But it’s a small step to worship the flag with the cross in it – which many Christians do.

The United States is not “one nation under God” now. We are divided, and we are Gentiles. We can pursue Godly values through legal means, but if we stake our faith there, we’ve missed the point of who the living God is.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from this world.”

John 18:36

Jesus called himself a king, saying he rules a kingdom. He was not a politician, however. He did not gain power by coup (force), or by election. He was given that ruling authority by his father – and then was born as a baby, grew into adulthood and led with humility, service and conviction.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant fror your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.

Romans 13:1-5

In the words of Brandon O’Brien, writing in Christianity Today, Romans 13 makes a lot of sense in American society. Here we enjoy the Constitutional separation of church and state, which means the government doesn’t meddle in religious affairs. We elect our officials to serve us — to do us good. And we can easily think of these civil servants as “God’s servants,” especially if they are Christians themselves. In fact, we can easily think of our nation as essentially Christian.

O’Brien continues:

Things were quite different in the Roman Empire when Paul wrote the Book of Romans. In Romans 13, Paul was referring to Roman authorities that were not friendly to Christianity. …

Polycarp, a disciple of John, is the best-known martyr of this period. Because he was an elderly and saintly man, the soldiers who arrested him wanted to give him a way out of his death penalty. So they told him all he had to do to escape death was declare, “Caesar is lord.” But Polycarp refused: “Eighty-six years I have served Christ, and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” In other words, Polycarp knew that the New Testament commands that we submit to rulers, whether or not they protect our right to worship as we choose. Paul was arguing that Christians must submit to rulers, even when it costs us our life, even when those rulers oppose God’s plan.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

2 Corinthians 3:17

Americans love “freedom,” but that’s a Biblical word – and it has nothing to do with the U.S. Constitution. The Spirit of the Lord frees us from the power of sin by removing the veil of a hardened heart toward God. That’s what this verse describes, and that’s freedom.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Revelation 7:9-10

When time ends and Earth is no more, all nations will be represented in heaven. Nationalism will have no place there. All will worship God together, in unity, with one voice.

I can’t wait for that day.

Happy birthday, America. We do have plenty to celebrate.

I am grateful for you. But I will not worship you – or put you in a meme with a Bible verse. The United States is one part, one very small part, of God’s world.