An Old Fielder

I’m reading a book right now called John Adams by David McCullough. After John Adams became the second president of the United States many news articles were written about him. One writer praised Adams for his many admirable qualities, going on and on about what a great man he was, giving special attention to his uncompromising integrity. Another writer simply referred to Adam’s as “an old fielder.” An old fielder was a very dependable horse who produced a ton of work, was very low maintenance and was very valuable to his master. McCullough writes that Adam’s rather liked being called an old fielder – someone that was hard working and useful to his country vs all the flattering words of the other author.

I really enjoyed this story and how more than anything, Adams wanted to be useful. As a Christian and as a church leader, I want to be dependable, hard working, low maintenance and very valuable to my Master – an old fielder.