You Were Made For This

You never know how an act of kindness will be remembered with fondness many decades later. It reminds us that when we are kind, it’s because God made us that way. Today’s episode is an example of how this works.

Welcome to You Were Made for This

But first  – I’m John Certalic and you are listening to episode 221 of You Were Made for This, the podcast about reflecting the character, image, and likeness of God. It’s what enables us to enjoy being the unique person he created each of us to be.

In today’s show we pick up where we left off last time in episode 220. In that episode I explained how it seems like everyone has a podcast these days, but most of them are ones I wouldn’t want to listen to. I want to listen to a podcast that is warm and inviting. One that inspires me to think and feel. Something positive and engaging. That’s what I would like. and I know some of you feel the same way.

So, in 2018, I created “You Were Made for This.”  For the first 219 episodes, the THIS I talked about was finding joy in relationships God has in mind for us. Moving forward, with season 9, I still value this direction, but I want to expand upon this theme of relationships, specifically in our relationship with God, and how that impacts all our relationships.

The focus of season 9 of our podcast

It starts with the fundamental truth that all of us are created in the image and likeness of God. On our better days, we reflect his character. And we experience joy when we do so. It’s what we’re made for. Ware made for this.

I love to see and hear examples of people doing this well, and I’m guessing you do as well. With that in mind, the format for season 9 will feature stories of individuals reflecting the character of God in ways that inspire the rest of us to do the same. 

I’m staying away from “how-to” lists or other directives. Less telling and more showing.  Showing examples of people reflecting the image and likeness of god in their daily ordinary lives.  There will be stories you and I can relate to, where we may say to ourselves, “I think I could do that. I think I would enjoy relating to people, as shown in the story. Yeah, I’d like to give that a try.

I ended last week’s episode, no. 220, with an article from The Wall Street Journal. It’s a great feel-good story because the characters in it reflect God's image and likeness, specifically his kindness.

In today’s episode I want to discuss how the people in the story set an example of what we are made for. But first, I’ll read Stacey Graham’s piece  entitled “My Brother’s Hero and a Stranger’s Kindness.” And then I’ll comment at the end. 

My brother’s hero and a stranger’s act of kindness

“My father, a high school football, basketball, and baseball coach, loved baseball player Willie Mays. He even named one of our cats after his favorite athlete.

“Every August throughout the 1960s he would pile my sister and me into the car at 4:30 am and drive us from our small town of 1500 in rural Oregon to Candlestick Park in San Fransisco, where we would watch the Giants – and the great Willie Mays in his prime – play a Friday night game. The trip of 952 miles took us more than nine hours. We were always so excited.

“We had a routine. After the game, we always stayed in the same nearby hotel and ate all our meals at the same diner. We would always head back to the park for the Saturday doubleheader. It was thrilling to see Willie hit home runs in person rather than on our black-and-white TV.

“Our younger brother – Fritz – who liked his father loved Willie – didn’t join us until he turned 5 and was deemed old enough. If he had been any more excited the first time we brought him along, he might have exploded.

Enjoying the innocence of childhood

“That Saturday morning in 1969, we stopped as usual at the diner for breakfast. Fritz noticed, in a booth near the front door, two gray-haired black men having coffee. My brother, having grown up in a place with no racial diversity, had never encountered anyone black in person.

“Suddenly, Fritz ran screaming toward the unsuspecting customers yelling at the top of his lungs, ‘Dad, it’s Willie Mays!’

“Bless his heart, one of the gentlemen accepted the honor of playing the role of the future hHall of Famer. At Fritz’s request, he signed a napkin, ‘Willie Mays.’  I saw both men smiling and laughing. I think they had as much fun as my brother.

“My family will always be grateful for this unforgettably generous gesture. The man could have mater-of-factly told Fritz it was a case of mistaken identity. Instead, he went along with the harmless charade and pretended to be Fritz’s hero.

“This memory came back to me in full force when Willie Mays died last June at 93 [in 2024]. I remembered the man in the booth at the diner. I cried and said a prayer for both.”

I love this story. Here’s why.

The act of kindness shown by the dad in the story

How can you not be drawn to a father who names the family cat “Willie Mays?”  Not Fluffy, not Snowball, not socks, nor other common cat names like Whiskers (my sister had one of these, who lived a very long time) or Mittens (good friends gave this name to their pancake-eating feline.) 

I would love to have a neighbor like this. Not for his love of baseball, but for being creative enough to give a pet a name that makes you smile when you say it. Imagine taking the cat to the vet, and being asked the cat's name. How could you not smile or laugh when you hear it for the first time?

A few years ago I had a name in mind for a cat for my wife long before we got one. “Uncle Willie” was to be named after her real-life Uncle Willie. Following a fair amount of research into the supply of cats at the humane Society, I found one I thought would be a match. 

So on a cloudy Sunday afternoon after church, we drove the 20 miles through rolling farmland to check out what I thought would be a good cat for my wife. One that we would call Uncle Willie. Well, the cat checked out fine, so we maid the humane society fee, put him in the car, and headed home. But while Janet liked the cat, she hated the name. She didn’t want to be reminded of her uncle.

Naming our cat

So, after a spirited discussion on the drive home I came up with another name – Patrick, which happened to be the name of her ex-boyfriend from middle school. Janet didn’t want to be reminded of him either. 

So in an act of kindness, I said, “Let’s give him a title. How about Father Patrick?”  But Father Patrick just begs for a last name. Jim. Let’s make that O’Malley, which will also give him a nationality. It’s a perfect name since Janet and I both have rich green Irish blood flowing through our veins. 

And that’s how Father Patrick O’Malley came to be. I tell stories about him being undocumented, because failing to make it to the US through Ellis Island in New York he was able to cross through our southern border and is awaiting his asylum hearing. In the meantime, I gave him the job of chaplain for our organization. He’s doing a splendid job so far.

People have laughed out loud when I’ve told them our cat’s name. You may think it’s just weird – or stupid, and that’s OK. As our daughter-in-law says, “You be you, and I’ll be me.”

God must have a sense of humor

Getting back to the dad in the story – how does he reflect the character of God?  One way is through humor. There are no verses in the bible that talk about God’s sense of humor or that he even has one. But I know for sure God has a sense of humor because we have one. Anything good about us as humans is because God hard-wired us with that good thing. 

There’s no denying humor done well is a good thing. There are some forms of humor, though, that are not very appealing and therefore don’t reflect the image and likeness of God. Sarcasm, silliness, slapstick, demeaning others – none of these reflect God’s character. A cat named after baseball star Willie Mays,” lifts us, makes us smile, gets us out of ourselves and off the negative things all around us. That’s a good thing. Because that’s part of what God does and is.

Making time for others is an act of kindness

Another thing I appreciate about the father in the story is that he makes time for relationships. He could have gone to the Giants game with a friend or even by himself. Instead, he took his daughter and his son when he was old enough. He drove all that way from Oregon to San Fransisco to create a memory for he and each of his kids. It would been a lot less work if he had gone alone or with another adult. 

It’s inspiring to read about men like this who invest in their children, who invite them into their world. It’s encouraging to know there are men out there like the father in the story. It inspires me to be a little like him.  

God, like the father, wants to spend time with us. He wants to nurture a relationship with us, and he, too is creating memories for us if we take the time to notice them. Yeah, this father is reflecting the character of God. And he does so in a way unique to him. Not all dads love baseball, or Willie Mays. Or cats. Nevertheless, the father used his distinct interest as a tool to bond with his kids. What a great way to reflect the image and character of God.

An act of kindness from two strangers

Then of course we have the two black gentlemen in the restaurant drinking coffee. When the little boy mistakes one of them for Willie Mays, they choose not to correct the kid with the facts. Instead, they both helped to create a moment of joy for the little boy.  They participated in his childhood innocence by fueling the child’s misperception. The dad, I’m sure, corrected the boy’s perception at a later time with a dose of reality. But now,

God is like this, too. He wants us to experience joy every now and then. It’s good practice for what heaven will be like. 

And I loved how the two men laughed at this little magic moment for Fritz. They found joy themselves in being part of this childhood innocence. God must be like that, too. I imagine him grinning from ear to ear, watching this scene unfold. It makes me wonder if there’s anything I do to make God smile. Do you ever wonder this? Is there anything you do to make God smile?

Moved to tears over an act of kindness

Another person in the article that made this such an uplifting, feel-good story is the author herself. The death of Willie Mays in 2024 brought the memory from a Saturday morning in 1969 to the forefront of her thinking. It evoked her gratitude for the kindness of two strangers in a vivid memory that happened 56 years ago.

“My family will always be grateful for this unforgettably generous gesture,”is how she describes it. It brought tears to her eyes and motivated her to pray at that moment for the two men she saw briefly half s century ago.  

Wouldn’t you like to a fly on the wall at Thanksgiving dinner with this family when they retell this story once again. Little Fritz would be 60 years old at the last Thhanksgiving, and it’s possible his father and the two men in the restaurant could still be alive. What a great memory to celebrate.

What a privilege it is to create memories like this that last so long. It’s one of the things God does so well himself. He orchestrates events, circumstances, and people to expose us to joy-filled memories of human kindness that last a lifetime.

So what does all this mean for you?

When I read or see stories like the one from this episode, the people in them often inspire me to think, “Maybe I could be a little more like that. I think I could be more like the dad, or like the two guys drinking coffee – or even the author. Each of them reflected the character of God in a manner unique to them. And it looks and sounds so easy for each of them. 

It seems so natural because it is what they were made for as people created in the image and likeness of God.  I wonder how you reflect the image and likeness of God because of the way he made you.

Closing

As we close up shop for today, I’d love to hear any thoughts you have about today’s episode. Especially if you have stories of people reflecting the character of God through the kindness they extend to others. 

Even better would be memories you have of kindness shown to you. We were all created to be kind to others because it is how God made all of us. You and I were made made for this.

Well, that’s it for today. If there’s someone in your life you think might like to hear what you just heard, please forward this episode on to them. Scroll down to the bottom of the show notes and click on one of the options in the yellow “Share This” bar.

Finally, when you think of it, see what happens when you try to spread a little relational sunshine around the people you meet this week. See if it sparks some joy in them – and in you.  With that said,  I’ll see you again next time. Goodbye for now.

Other episodes or resources related to today’s shows

153: Two Stories of How to Reflect the Character of God

212: Little Things We Do Matter the Most to People

Prior most recent episode

220: A Podcast You and I Want to Listen To

All past and future episodes can be found at JohnCertalic.com