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I am a believer but I would never want someone forced into something they didn't believe or didn't want to hear. I've come back to my faith later in life but I have always resented anyone pushing anything on me in terms of religion. I have a church that I attend but before that (and even now) I would refuse to attend any church where people were sent out to knock on my door. My polite response was " I don't talk about religion at my front door, have a nice day".
Funny story regarding religion and baseball. I was working a tournament in Aiken SC for Dixie baseball in 2004. I was one of 4 out of state umpires. One of the umpires, Jeff, was from VA and I was from NC. We had about 4 games together at the tournament and he asked if he could ride with me to the park so his wife and kids could use his vehicle. No problem. In game 4, I fell asleep and missed an easy force at third (long story, no need to tell it). I came back to the umpires room and looked at Jeff and my other partner Archie and said "Guys, I am sorry...I f***ed up out there and I have no excuse". About 30 minutes later Jeff and I rode back to the hotel. We were talking trying to get our minds off a long day of baseball and I asked him what he did for a living. He said " I work for the school system back home but I am also the minister at a community church in my hometown !!" I apologized for my swearing and told him I knew I wasn't perfect. He never broke stride and said "we all have work to do". That was it, no lecture or sermon.
Lawrence
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