Did You Remember To Bring The Camera?

I think I have visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY three times, and I would go back if the opportunity presented itself. Growing up as a baseball fan and player, I enjoy sifting through the items on display, remembering players who were prominent in my days of being a dedicated fan, and seeing balls, bats, uniforms, etc. that were used during historic moments and eras of the game.

A new display honoring Hank Aaron, who holds the record for Most Home Runs Without The Benefit Of Performance-Enhancing Drugs, recently was dedicated at the Hall, and I would appreciate being able sometime to check that out. Being at the Hall affords closeness to the history of baseball, and to those who made it. Like all other for-profit organizations, the Baseball Hall of Fame continually looks for ways to bump up the revenue side of its balance sheet.

Apparently, identifying the exact spot where Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River is seen as a potential money-maker, as well.

I never have visited the Holy Land, and really have no desire to do so, but I understand there are shrines and churches and the like established at places where major events from the Bible or the life of Jesus are believed to have occurred. A friend of mine described visiting one such site – the supposed birth place of Jesus in Bethlehem – by saying that while he was content to simply walk inside the small room of the building erected over the stable behind “no room at the inn," a woman there that day “crawled in on her hands and knees,” I assume because of the “holiness” of the site.

I don’t know. Who truly can be certain where specific events occurred? With weather of all sorts, severe and otherwise, with changes in landscape, and competition for tourist dollars, I wonder about the validity of some of the claims made. Sure, it may be close to the actual site, and a visitor can get a sense of what the lay of the land was like when Jesus walked the earth, but what really is the purpose behind standing there looking?

With at least two different sites for Jesus’ baptism being promoted throughout the centuries, how can anyone say for sure which is the actual one? Officials on both sides of the Jordan want their side authenticated because of the revenue it will generate for tourism.

That’s the name of that tune.

And perhaps it also is the source of my ambivalence regarding getting excited about visiting such places. My tradition holds that believers experience the presence of the Risen Christ at the communion table during worship. The same can occur during prayer. And probably most assuredly, the scriptures suggest that we see the face of Christ when we pay attention to those who suffer, be they poor, diseased, denigrated for whatever reason, or otherwise struggling with “less than” status.

Of course, those experiences of being close to Christ require open hearts and a measure of vulnerability. Hopefully, all of that leads to greater fulfillment of what he is all about.

Some of the other attempts at closeness are achieved through open wallets, and the checklist of “places to see before I die” gets another mark.