Beech Tree News Network

Fame is a fleeting thing.  But you knew that.
My two seconds of fame came as seventh-grader, shagging balls in the outfield for our high school baseball team at batting practice.  I seriously doubt anybody, anywhere remembers but me.
I was standing directly behind second base when the star of the team came up to bat.  To hype this thing a little, this guy went on to play college baseball.  He also was big-man –on-campus, good looking to top it all off, all the girls were ga-ga over him… I guess that’s enough hype for now.
Anyway, I was using my daddy’s baseball glove.  He always kept a pretty nice glove.  He and I played catch at home a lot; most times he’d let me use his good glove.  He would use my older brother’s old, half worn out left handed glove on the wrong hand.  Daddy was right-handed.
Getting down to my famous act, which no one remembers but me, the hero hit a line-drive right over second base- it came directly at the end of my nose.  My brain froze.  To keep from looking like a complete fool, I half-heartily raised my glove and sort of ducked. 
The ball hung in the lace-pocket.  My compardies all cheered. I turned toward them and doffed my cap.  I don’t recall ever being that famous again. Worse, the girl I was liking at the time wasn’t even there. 
While we’re about professional baseball, who remembers which team was world champions last year?
How many remember who broke Babe Ruth’s hitting record? Some say it was never broken; Babe didn’t have as many times at bat as the one who broke his record.
Do you recall which one of the Wright Brothers flew first? I suspect he was the more famous of the two.
I would have thought it pretty heady stuff if Jesus had said, “Here comes Don Locke, indeed in him is no guile.” But the Lord didn’t say that about me, he knows better.  He said it about the Apostle Nathanael (John I:47). Yet most Bible scholars tell us Nathanael’s name was never mentioned again in the Bible, except for those six verses-45 through 51 of John I.  Ole Nate’s one shot of fame.  Now forgotten by most folks (except for the clergy) I expect. 
Hitler is still a famous bad person.  However, some folks are not clear about his demise.  One girl wrote on a college history exam: “At the end of the World War II Hitler hid under the streets of Berlin and shot himself in the bonkers.” (Ouch!)
Kindest regards….