Welcome to "Tuesday Morning"—a weekly e-publication of encouragement and affirmation for Christians everywhere. Non-Christians are always welcome.

 

I don't dabble in the stock market, but I admire those who have the courage (and assets) to do so--especially in turbulent economic times. I found a quote that is attributed to a retail stock and options trader who goes by the name, "Robin Hood." (How appropriate.) He said, "Ninety percent of your success (in trading stocks) will be tied up with how you deal with losses as well as wins." That could be said about how a person manages daily life as well.

 

Losses happen. Hopefully, gains will happen too. But "inevitable" modifiers are used when one talks about death and taxes. And losses. This week's "Tuesday Morning" is entitled, "Facing Losses." It begins with some statistics about one of America's most famous baseball players, "Babe" Ruth. He lived in an era a century ago when the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees competed annually for baseball supremacy. The "Babe" played for both teams, but most of his career was spent in New York. He is remembered for having hit 714 home runs during his career. His top single-season record was 1927, when he stroked 60 home runs in 151 games played that year.

 

What some fans forget is that while Ruth hit an enormous number of home runs, he also struck out a lot. In fact, he had nearly twice as many strike-outs as he had had home runs. In spite of his strike-outs, was he a successful major league hitter? Absolutely. Only two players have topped his career total of home runs—Hank Aaron and Bobby Bonds.

 

If you like talking about money or sports, I believe you will enjoy reading this edition of "Tuesday Morning." Read on whenever you are ready, and then spend the rest of the week focusing on your hits, not your misses. 

 

Tom Barnard

Never a Great Hitter, but Still Swinging

________________________________________________________________

 

Facing Losses

Tom Barnard

 

o you know anyone who has taken a hit in the stock market? Is that anyone you? It stinks, doesn’t it? But according to stock trader/analyst Adam Mesh, “Anyone—ANYONE—who has ever traded stocks, invested in stocks or dabbled in stocks, has taken a loss.” He goes on to say, “Here’s the thing…everyone will eventually have a stock go against them at one point or another.”

 

In major-league baseball, all players have to deal with losses. No batter hits every ball that is pitched to him. No pitcher wins every game in a season. Every baseball manager has to address slumps. I checked out the baseball stats of “Babe” Ruth in the Baseball Almanac. Born George Herman Ruth in 1895, the “Babe” played his first game of major-league baseball in 1914 at the age of 19. He played his last game on May 30, 1935. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936, one year after he retired.

 

As a pitcher he won 94 career games and lost 46 with an earned-run average of 2.28. However, Ruth is remembered more for his batting than for his pitching. In the 2,503 games he played, he came to bat 8,399 times. He succeeded to get 2,873 hits in those games. The statistic that sticks out is the number of home runs he hit—714 during his career!

 

There is another number to consider when it comes to assessing the career of the “Babe.” It is the number of times he struck out at the plate—1,330 times. He had nearly twice as many strike-outs as he had home runs! However, he had more than twice as many hits as he had strike-outs. A fact seldom mentioned when it comes to Ruth’s total hits is that he had 1517 singles—161 more than the grand total of his doubles, triples, and home runs.

 

Singles! How important were they? They helped boost his runs-batted-in career total to 2,213! His teams won because of his ability to spray one-base hits everywhere in the ball-park. Home runs were glamorous and memorable, but singles also won games. 

 

In both the stock market and sports, participants experience wins and losses, gains and failures. In life, in ministry, and in business, we face losses as well as gains. The “downs” impact us all, but the important thing is how we deal with them. Will we act stunned like a “deer-in-the-headlights” victim, frozen and fearful—unable to move in any direction? Or will we accept each loss as a temporary setback, establish a new strategy, and begin in small ways to move forward in an upward trajectory?

 

Recently, a career pastor reflected on the ups and downs of pastoral ministry. Over his career he pastored six churches. Four of his churches grew both numerically and spiritually. Two did not. The situations in the two non-growing congregations were complex. During his leadership time, neither church experienced a turn-around in the pattern of decline. Both churches were experiencing internal conflict long before he arrived. Those conflicts eventually led to his leaving. A professional consultant recommended that in one case the church was located in a rapidly-changing cultural area of the city, and that short of relocating the church, nothing positive was likely to happen. There was resistance to relocation. The pastor moved on, and his successors suffered under the same circumstances. The pastor’s insight was correct: “Without a shared vision, the people perish and the church declines.”

 

Are you facing a “down turn” in your personal life, your church life, or your business life? Did this slump occur suddenly, without warning, or were there warning signs along the way? Did you seek professional help, and have you followed the suggestions given? Did you try to correct the problem by “swinging for the fences,” trying to solve the slump by hitting a home run? If so, maybe you should consider changing strategies—going for “singles,” gaining confidence, and gradually correcting the direction you have been following. It works in the stock market and in professional sports. Perhaps it will work where you are.