One of my favorite movies is “Field of Dreams.”  Perhaps you are familiar with it?  If you are a baseball fan, you almost certainly are.  Even if baseball isn’t your thing, chances are you know of the film. 

The movie was released in the spring of 1989 and ended up with three academy award nominations.  Tom Hanks, who was originally approached about playing the lead role of Ray Kinsella but turned it down, felt strongly enough about the film that he predicted the movie could be “this generation’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life.’”  He may be right.  Just a few years ago, the Library of Congress selected the movie to be preserved in the United States National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”

Wikipedia describes the movie as an “American sports fantasy film,” which is as apt a description as any.  The film is a little of a lot of things.  It’s a love story.  It’s a bit comical.  It’s mystical.  (Definitely lacking in the theological department; Iowa is NOT heaven, though it’s nice enough.)  It’s a pursuing-of-outlandish-dreams story.  It’s a ghost story.  (Many “ghosts” actually!)  Certainly, it’s a baseball story.

But most of all, “Field of Dreams” is a story about lost opportunities with loved ones, and a deep yearning to have a second chance to reconnect.  Ray, the new farmer, has a hole in his heart because of the way he dealt with his father, John, when Ray was a young man.  His father was a huge baseball fan and a former player.  Through the baseball field he constructs in his corn field (at the urging of a strange voice he heard in the corn), Ray is finally able to “have a catch” with his father again, who has been dead for many years.  It’s a scene that often brings tears to the eyes of even the most stoic viewers.

And this scene and this concept is what has turned this film into a grand slam.

I had no idea that the original field where the movie was filmed was preserved, or that every year visitors flock to the field … ironically as the movie claimed would happen.  My oldest son informed me of its existence and that it was close enough to his home that we could road-trip there from his place.  Some of my family did that this Summer.  What a neat experience!  And, of course, I played catch on the field with my oldest and youngest sons (and my wife) … as did fathers and sons of all different ages all around us.

Annual visitors to the field were approaching 100,000 a year, but when Major League Baseball announced it was going to play an actual MLB game there on an adjacent field with professional dimensions and lighting, the numbers of visitors skyrocketed to an estimated twice that many people this Summer. 

That game, the “Field of Dreams Game,” was played this past Thursday by the Yankees and White Sox.  Perhaps you saw news coverage of the event, or even watched part of the game itself.  (The backdrop of cornfields beyond the fences was striking, and a significantly different look than what is seen at a typical MLB game!)  According to Fox who broadcast the game, it was the most watched regular season baseball game in 16 years with over 6 million viewers!

That’s the impact the movie had … and is still having.  Why?  Because human beings continue to struggle with their relationships, even those relationships with the people closest to them.  Sometimes especially with those people closest to them.  And so many people long to reconnect.

Perhaps at the very root of the yearning to reconnect with loved ones … especially parents and children … is the recognition in many that they are not connected with their Heavenly Father?  The hole in their heart is even deeper and more profound than any earthly relationship can fill.  There’s an intuitive realization that there is Someone so much bigger and more significant than even their parents, and that “Someone” is missing in their lives.

And ultimately, we all could be closer to our Heavenly Father than we are, couldn’t we?

Even Christians can sometimes feel distant from God.  The Lord is everything; we are definitely not.  He is almighty; we are weak.  He lives forever; we perish.  He is the Creator; we the created.  He is perfect; we are flawed.  He is holy; we are permeated with sin.  He is the Forgiver; we the forgiven.  The differences between us and the Lord are glaring, so even if we recognize God’s love, grace, forgiveness and kindness to us, we are well aware of our inadequacies.

But here’s the key to our relationship with God.  That relationship is not predicated on our own point of view, but on the Lord’s!

In the movie, it becomes clear that Ray’s relationship struggles with his father, John, were a result of how Ray was looking at things when he was younger; not the way his father, John, did.  The father deeply loved the son and longed to be closer to him.  However, the child was confused and resistant.

In the same way, the path to reconnecting … or connecting more closely … with our Heavenly Father must be traveled through our Heavenly Father’s perspective, and not our own.  We must listen to what he says instead of to the yammering of the world, and even especially of our own sinful natures.

What does our Heavenly Father state about our relationship with him?  Quite a lot, it turns out!

Our Father created this world we live in (Gen. 1:1), and he created us too (Malachi 2:10).  And even though we have turned against him repeatedly, he loved us so much he sent his holy Son, Jesus, to save us (Jn. 3:16-17).  And make no mistake about it, our Heavenly Father still loves us (Jn. 16:27).  He has blessed us with an abundance of “good and perfect” gifts, including spiritual birth through his Word (James 1:17-18), and he continues to “graciously give us all things” (Rom. 8:32).

When reflecting on our Heavenly Father, Peter was moved by the Holy Spirit to write these words, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you …” (1 Peter 1:3-4).

What a Father!  He’s a Father who blesses us here on earth, but who has even greater blessings waiting for us in heaven!

He’s a Father who dearly loves us and is totally invested in having a relationship with us.  He is always near us (Acts 17:27), always watching over us (Ps. 139:1-8), always guiding us (Ps. 139:9-10).  He longs for us to hear his soothing voice in his Word, which helps us recognize his closeness to us and rejoice in our relationship with him.  Because when we listen to him, then the holes in our hearts begin to be filled.  Then our Father can draw us closer to him and better embrace us, support us and uplift us.  And then he can also begin to bless and reconnect our relationships with other people as well.

Avoid regret; jump confidently and whole-heartedly into the arms of your Heavenly Father.  His arms are safe and secure, and are eager to wrap us close to himself – to the One who is always present, always faithful, always loving and always kind.

We happen to have a wonderful Father.  And by God’s grace we happen to be his children.  Not just kind of or a little bit his children, but totally!  As John exclaims, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1).

The Lord’s Field of Dreams really is where dreams come true.  And not just for a moment, but for eternity!