The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
On Sept. 30, 1927, George Herman Ruth — commonly known as “Babe Ruth” — hit a record-breaking 60th home run of the year.
“And yet, Babe Ruth could rightly also be considered the most ‘unlikely’ hero of the 20th century, despite these really lofty accomplishments.” said Elder Michael A. Dunn, a General Authority Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ruth was born to immigrant parents, he often skipped school and looked for trouble as a kid, and his mother died from tuberculosis. He was even deemed “incorrigible,” or “bad and impossible to change or improve,” and sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School for Boys, a Catholic orphanage for runaways and delinquents.
So, what changed?
The baseball icon had the help of a man known as Brother Mathias. Mathias was a priest at the orphanage who paid attention to Ruth, played baseball with him and eventually realized his skill at the sport. Many years later, Ruth’s daughter said, “When Babe was 23 years old, the whole world loved him. When he was 13 years old, only Brother Matthias loved him.”
Elder Dunn said, “I’m comforted that our very just and very merciful God promises that ‘the last shall be first’ (Doctrine and Covenants 29:30) in a very unique and divine reordering of probabilities, unfairnesses and even disadvantages. … God’s power is both within us and very much within our reach.”
On Tuesday, May 9, Elder Dunn spoke in a devotional to students and staff members at Ensign College. His message highlighted that through work, determination and God’s help, students can accomplish the seemingly impossible.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
