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MESSAGE TO THE CONVENTION
Paul P. Harris
To
my Rotary friends assembled in Dallas, greetings and best
wishes:
The Big Game Is On
When the umpire shall, to the last man, have said, "You are
out," what will your batting average be?
Some wonderful players have entered; no faster, stronger,
cleaner, have ever been known‑none more courageous.
What Will Your Batting Average Be?
This is a day of games. Athletic contests, whether they be
baseball, cricket or golf, are sources of inspiration to youth.
Here heroes are made. Games have disciplinary values fostering
the spirit of fair play, courage and the will to win.
Life, at its best, is a strenuous game, calling for the best
there is in one, including the spirit of fair play, courage and
the will to win. Life owes much to the games of youth. The terms
and phrases of the athletic field are appropriate to the
strenuous life. What could be more expressive than the phrase
"Good cricket"? It is as frequently heard in mart and forum as
upon field. How much of the spirit of fair play, courage and the
will to win of the great British people is traceable to such
expressions as, "Splendid, old fellow, that's cricket."
Have You Learned the Rules of the Game?
Rotarians are playing a game bigger than baseball, cricket or
golf, a game that can be played until the mortal curtains fall,
the game of life; it requires all of our individual and
collective spirit of fair play, courage and the will to win.
The Babe Ruths, the Vardons and the Bounding Basques are few in
number, but there need be no bench warmers in the game of life.
If
we put into the game of life the heart of a Nurmi, this world
will become a better place in which to live; it matters not what
our capabilities may be. Purposeful mediocrity will count for
more than slovenly genius in the game of life.
The first step toward mastery in baseball, tennis, cricket and
golf is learning the rules of the game; without rules there
could be no games. The first step toward mastery in Rotary is
learning the rules; happily they are as definite as the rule
that makes three strikes an out.
Are the terms “Aims and Objects,” “Club Service,” “Vocational
Service,” “Community Service,” and “International Service”
intelligible to you? If not, your predicament is as hopeless as
that of him who knows not the path to first base.
What will your batting average be at the season's close? Will
you be a Tyrus Cobb to whom less than 400 was disgrace or will
you be an aimless tyro?
The result will depend on how well you know the rules and with
what heart you play the game.
Whether it be Tyrus or tyro is for you to determine.
[1929 Dallas Convention]
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