Series of difficulties

Last month the Chicago White Sox won baseball’s World Series for the first time in 88 years, and in doing so, erased memories of the 1919 Black Sox team that allegedly threw the World Series. What lessons in perseverance, or otherwise, can be gleaned from this story?

I believe that a divine purpose motivates every event, that a reason exists for every occurrence and that layers of ever-deeper meaning underlie every experience. But, as a lifelong Cubs fan, I can attest that the White Sox win was absolutely without significance, that it was random happenstance and without wider import in the divine scheme. That the Sox won the championship is simply another demonstration that the world is out of kilter, and the victory probably can be traced back to Adam and Eve and the primal sin. There is nothing to be learned from it, and it is better soon forgotten (if it was even noticed!). It is an exception to the governing principle of divine providence.

I grew up on Chicago’s South Side, but even at an early age enjoyed the wisdom to root for the Cubs. To demonstrate how ingrained is the virtue of “Cub-ness,” if the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cubs’ greatest rivals, had won the National League pennant and faced the White Sox, I would have rooted for the Cards.

Perseverance? Compared with the Cubs, what do the White Sox know about perseverance? Remember, theirs was only the second-longest baseball championship drought. Cellular Field? Who can take it seriously? While God does not deduct from your life the hours you spend in the friendly confines of bucolic Wrigley Field, the Sox play in a concrete and glass eyesore without a hint of class or the patina of hoary age. Who can warm up to a ballpark nicknamed “The Cell,” whose clueless builders hit upon the brilliant idea to have the fans face away from the world-class Chicago skyline view?

We all know that the only reason the Sox made it to the World Series was the umpire’s call on the pitch thrown to A. J. Pierzynski for strike three and the ensuing cover-up that was worthy of Watergate. And the only reason they won the Series was the umpire’s botched ruling that Jermaine Dye was hit by a pitch.

Baseball has experienced many scandals. But taken together, all the corked bats, steroids, spitballs, player strikes, Pete Roses and, worst of all, the gouging stadium food prices, do not add up to the conspiracy known as the Black Sox scandal of 1919. The great unforgivable sin of throwing the Series was the most crushing disgrace, the most serious dishonor, in all of sports history and ranks up there with Mrs. O’Leary’s cow in its lasting effect on Chicago. Why do I recall that indelible stain of 86 years ago? Because I can! Yes, the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children. All the detergent in the world will not launder those Black Sox!

Next year, when the Cubbies win, we will be treated to proof that the world is near its final redemption. A White Sox win? “Say it ain’t so!”

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yahm

Newport Beach

There is no real lesson in perseverance for the team, as much as for the fans. Being born in Chicago, I can tell you that everyone I know from Chicago has never given up on the Cubs; so all of my friends were surprised when that other Chicago team won. Regarding the question of the week, I think the lesson might be more about God not playing favorites than about persevering. In the tradition of my faith, God does not play favorites, there are no chosen people, everyone is going to heaven, and the Cubs still have a chance. But this does not mean that life is without consequence. Indeed, the 1919 Black Sox paid a heavy price for their misbehavior, as do we all when our behavior does not honor our commitment to live by our principles.

I would rather think about this world finally coming to its collective sense, knowing that peace is more important than vengeance, love is more rewarding than fear, and God is forever giving us a lifetime of opportunities to free ourselves from competition, greed and cynicism.

SENIOR PASTOR JAMES TURRELL

Center for Spiritual Discovery

Costa Mesa

Imagination’s eye can easily see 88 “Wait till next year!” flags flying above Comiskey Park -- US Cellular Field on the south side of Chicago.

Fourteen years after the Black Sox scandal threatened our national pastime, President Herbert Hoover said, “Next to religion, baseball has furnished a greater impact on American life than any other institution.”

Both proclaim “Hope springs eternal!”

People of religious faith and baseball fans share Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Prayer”: “Give us grace and strength to forbear and persevere ... “ that we might understand Nehru’s wisdom, “It takes time and perseverance to do big things” and achieve, as Johnson wrote, “Great works ... performed not by strength but by perseverance.”

Think of how times have changed, and of the upheavals in our nation over these years. Yet the game of baseball remains itself. Its constant enduring links times and changes in our land.

Fashions come and go, as do wars and social problems and economic crises and political climates; baseball outlives them all in our midst. Baseball serenely glides by -- permanent, beautiful, ever itself; insular, yet mildly reflecting, in its own terms, the convulsions gripping our land and tearing out the old to plant the new.

The world’s cataclysms come about and subside, but every summer brings the same eternal game. We can time our lives to baseball’s peaceful eternity. We can trust to its repose and security. It’s always going on. The Red Sox won last year, the White Sox this year; Rabbi Miller’s Cubs “next year” is not beyond hope.

The White Sox’s triumph witnesses to the success of positive attitudes and continuous optimism. Of course, great pitching and clutch hitting and a manager filled with wisdom and humor help too. As an Angels fan, my cheer is “Wait till next year!” Hope springs eternal!

(THE VERY REV’D CANON) PETER D. HAYNES