DAILY STRENGTH FOR MEN
March 6 (day 1)

HAVING A CATCH

Then he went to the spring of water and threw the salt into it, and said, "Thus says the LROD, I have made this water wholesome; from now on neither death nor miscarriage shall come from it>"
2 Kings 2:21 NRSV

If God can heal a spring of water with a bit of salt, then God can heal your heart with anything. Even a few minutes from a film.

In the movie, Field of Dreams, Ray Kinsella recounts how his father "never made it as a ball player, so he tried to get his son to make it for him." But Ray refused to pursue his father's dream and even refused to "have a catch" with his father. Ray left home at seventeen and never returned, until his father's funeral.

At the end of the film, Ray's father, John, appears on the field of dreams that Ray had built on his Iowa cornfield. Ray introduces his dad to his wife and daughter. As John begins to walk away, Ray asks, "Hey ... Dad ... you wanna have a catch?" John turns around and answers, "I'd like that." They toss the ball back and forth as the film ends.

The 1989 film has never ended for Dwier Brown, who played John "For people who had a difficult relationship with their dad," he says, "that scene got tatooed on the back of their retina." Everywhere he goes strangers approach him to talk about their dads. "Some poeple come up and literally cry on my shoulder."

An attorney once confesed to Brown that "tears were pouring down" his cheeks during the pivotal scene. The man realized that he had mad e himself miserabl trying to lease his father; the film prompted major changes in his life.

If you have trouble connecting with your father, Brown suggests having a catch with him. "You have this wonderful back-and-forth. Playing catch is just enough of a distraction, especially for men. They might start talking about things they wouldn't normally talk about. When you're playing catch, the words just kind of come out of your mouth."

Have a catch and let the healing begin.