Aren’t our American Septembers all about return-to-school and formal education, after the relaxed joys of summer? Private, public, religious, homeschooling…there are so many ways to get the job done.

Interfaith couples have long heard the query from grandparents, clerics and others: ‘how will you raise the children?’ Which faith will you choose for your family?’

It’s the same when two partners of different team passions come together. In the New York metro baseball arena, the ‘interfaith’ issue is the Met-Yankees marriage. In which team spirit will the couple raise the children? Will one partner convert? Is a common team spirit necessary, or can a couple raise their children with general exposure to baseball and ‘let them decide,’ when they’re adults.

Inferring from research in faith traditions, wherein the the mixed-marriage ‘let them decide’ model often results in no faith practice by the offspring as adults, the couple that cares about their baseball passions may come to the disciplined decision to choose one team as the family’s own, if they’d like to see their love of baseball carried forth in their next generation.

The world can be a confusing place, made secure and firm by parents and families. Can we give our children firm roots on the subject of for whom to root? The answer is yes.

Four Tips For Families This September:

Keep asking for blessings over the Mets’ 2019 bullpen.

Embrace Met’s relief pitcher Tug McGraw’s statement ‘ya gotta believe.’

Be alert to St. Paul’s wisdom: “Do not be yoked together with unbelievers” (2 Corinthians 6:14 NIV).

Replace ‘let them decide’ with ‘let’s go Mets.’

Send your thoughts, prayers and incantations to @Pray4Mets@gmail.com.

-Maureen Edelson, Creator

Montclair, New Jersey USA