That’s Life: Being doers

Bobby Richardson visited Marion this past week to encourage giving to others. As guest speaker at the second United Fund of Marion County gala, the annual kick-off to the giving season, Richardson, a famed baseball player from Sumter, inspired, encouraged and brought the gift of laughter to those privileged to hear him. Richardson may be as well known to some as a Christian speaker as he is to others as a baseball star. But to all, his story inspires.

A solid team player, Richardson also coached college baseball teams, to the delight of his many Southern “Yankee” fans. At the age of 17 and 18, in the early 1950s, he was competing as an American Legion baseball star, wowing crowds, making friends, and creating fans in Mullins, Marion, Florence, Sumter and beyond.

But Richardson’s story doesn’t end with fame going to his head. It doesn’t end pathetically, sadly or tragically. In fact, his story has not yet ended. Though he is coming to terms with being the last of a line-up on a team that saw more than 11 years of magical plays and subsequent wins, his story is still being told. When he ends, his story will likely continue, offering a legacy, a gift.

Richardson’s greatest contribution to life will have been his example of unwavering faith in God and total devotion to following his Christian principles. He inspires and encourages fellow Christians to continue to play the game with grace and strength of conviction. In the Bible, James writes in his book in the New Testament, chapter 1, verses 19-27, that if you “hear” and don’t “do,“  you’re virtually worthless.

James said “ ... let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger ... But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers ... But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act — they will be blessed ... Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.“ That’s a pretty tall order offered by James.

At the gala, Richardson reminded us that we each influence others and we need to be mindful of that influence. And that together, we influence a community.
By giving to the United Fund of Marion County we help others. We become doers. We all are hearers. We need to become better doers, working to fill the gap and helping to supply the needs of others.

We are all fairly adept at seeing needs and then at forgetting about them or at assuming someone else will meet them. Richardson said there is power in our example. He encouraged us all to work together, through the United Fund, to better our community.