There is a delightful story about a rookie umpire who stood behind the plate at his first game. Legendary fastball pitcher Nolan Ryan was on the mound. The second pitch of the game was so fast that the umpire didn’t know where it was until he heard the “POP!” of the catcher’s mitt. He froze. Finally he uttered a faint call: “Strike.”
The batter stepped out of the box, went over to the umpire, and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, sir,” said the batter. “I didn’t see it either.”
Author Jeren Rowell, commenting on this story, remarks, “Sometimes I feel like that rookie umpire when I try to keep up with the changes happening in our world. Things are changing at fastball speed.” (1) Things are changing at fastball speed, aren’t they? It has been said that we live in a time of tr…