Good Like Medicine
“A merry heart does good, like medicine.”
—
It’s baseball season, and if you are like me, you enjoy watching the Atlanta Braves or your favorite college, high school, or Little League team play on the diamond. It’s a fun, summertime sport with a lot of subtle strategy that calls for a unique combination of individual skill and team play.
Well, in honor of “America’s Pastime,” I thought it might be fun to share some of the zany phrases and expressions of former New York Yankee legend, Yogi Berra.
Berra was known as a great baseball player (he was an 18-time All-Star) and he appeared in 14 World Series contests as a Yankee. And they won 10 of them. Very impressive!
But his greatest legacy might be his countless expressions and turns of phrases that were memorable because most of them were an overstatement of a truism in a funny way.
The collection of Yogi sayings is immense, but some may have just been attributed to Berra. As he so aptly put it, “I never said most of the things I said.”
Here are a few of my favorites.
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
You can observe a lot just by watching.
It ain’t over till it’s over.
It’s like déjà vu all over again.
I know why no one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.
Baseball is 90% mental, and the other half is physical.
A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore.
I always go to other people’s funerals, that way they’ll come to mine.
Me? I never answer an anonymous letter.
The future ain’t what it used to be.
I don’t like playing at that ballpark, it gets late early.
Quick, everybody pair up in threes.
If you don’t know where you are going, you might not get there.
It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much.
If you ask me anything I don’t know, I’m not going to answer.
If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.
We would’ve won a lot more games if we were ahead at the end.
I hope these quotes made you smile. Smiling and laughter when it is not at the expense (or detriment) of another is a healthy thing. God created joy and laughter. Even one of our greatest Bible heroes was named “Laughter” (the name, “Isaac” means “laughter”). “A merry heart does good, like medicine.” “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” “Mourning may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning!”
Blessings, laughter, and love to you!
– Mark
R. Mark Green
Pastor to Senior Adults and Youth & Children's Music