A Needed Lift

By David Hamilton

This past week there was a women’s Division II softball game between Central Washington and Western Oregon, both of whom play in the Great Athletic Northwest Conference. What started out as an ordinary game quickly turned into a wonderful display of sportsmanship that has received national exposure.
Sara Tuckolosky, a senior from Western Oregon University, stepped up to plate with two runners on base. Though small in stature, she hit her first ever homerun in college softball. As she rounded first base, she missed touching the bag. According to the rules, she had to turn around and touch the bag for the homerun to count. When she stopped and turned she torn her ACL in her knee. She fell immediately to the ground in agony. She tried to get up but could not. If a coach or a trainer from her team were to go out onto the field, her homerun would have been taken away. Two players on the other team knew this rule, so they asked the umpire if they could carry her around the bases. The umpire, who was bewildered by their request, ultimately gave them permission. So Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace from Central Washington University picked up Sara Tucholosky and carried her around the bases so that she would get credit for the homerun! How is that for sportsmanship!
This story reminds me that there are times in life when we all need help in the form of having others to carry our burdens. As Christians, we should seek opportunities to assist one another just as Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace did for Sara Tucholosky. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” May this wonderful act of sportsmanship inspire us to lift one another up with acts of love and kindness.