The Asterisk

I have been living in New York for many years now, and I have to ask, “What is New York without the New York Post or the Daily News?” I know, most of you sophisticated people read the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal – just like I do. But your eyes can’t help but wander to the great covers of the Post or the News while you are buying coffee in the morning. So it was with me this morning (February 10). I was caught by the bold words Body of Lies next to a picture of A-Rod (otherwise known as Alex Rodriguez, the highest-paid baseball player of all times). Alex has his shirt off with a cross hanging around his neck. Pretty dramatic and pretty damning, as the subtitle reads, “Now A-Rod admits he DID take steroids and, yep, he’s sorry”. I love the word “yep” which, of course, is supposed to mean “yes”, but it conveys another message to me. It seems to insinuate that, of course, he’s sorry, he has to be sorry – he’s been caught red-handed with forensic evidence to boot. There is no way out but to say, “I am sorry”. So, while he lied three years ago in an interview with Katie Couric, he now had to come before his fans in public to confess. It’s that “yep” that is unsettling. It suggests that his confession and acknowledgment of his own wrongdoing and lies is forced. In the words of W. C. Fields, “All things considered, he’d rather be in Philadelphia”.

It is an interesting story of shame and scorn of someone who is a celebrity. We tend to feel that the rich and famous should be above reproach, but we love to tear them down. So A-Rod will now have an asterisk by his name and his statistics, suggesting that he has achieved whatever records with the help of drugs. Being a pastor, I always fall on the side of trying to understand those who have proven that we are all flawed and this is part of the human condition. And “yep”, we hide it from ourselves and others. We even run from it.

No matter where we go, we can’t run from the asterisk next to our name. It is that asterisk that tells us we are not in control, we have fallen short of our best intentions, not to mention “the glory of God”. The old-fashioned way is simply to say we are all sinners in need of forgiveness. And so, we have to thank A-Rod for leading us into Lent with such headlines. I noted that he was wearing a cross around his neck, which is the key to understanding our own redemption. It is the cross that saves us, that tells us that God identifies with our pain, and that we are all in search of redemption. It is that love that can erase the asterisk. To me, Lent is the experience of coming to terms with yourself, your faults, sins, and failings. It is moving beyond the “yep” to a willing acknowledgment that we need forgiveness. In the end, Lent tells us not just that we are sinners, but that God erases the asterisk and loves us for who we are. Is there any better good news?

Join me this Lent as we struggle as struggle to confront the asterisk in front of our name.