Catch Me Being A Blessing!
Wherever we are, our light can shine.
Happy Friday, friends! As summer kicks off, I’m looking forward to adventures with my family. I enjoy going to the beach, restaurants, the local arcade, and events with them. What about you? Do you have a vacation or anything else planned for the season (let me know in the comments what you’ll be up to)? What about going to a sporting event? We have a local professional baseball team where I live. Still, I admit that the closest I’ll probably get to watching a baseball game is through the currently airing anime series, Catch Me At the Ballpark!. Focusing on a fictional Japanese baseball team, the MotorSuns, the series is also surprisingly thoughtful, with a recent episode leading me to think further on a topic that’s been on my mind—the impact our kindness can have on others.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about just that, and how it’s not just big moments that matter; sometimes, small actions leave the biggest impact. Seemingly trivial gestures of goodwill can turn around someone’s day and, in some instances, change the entire direction they may have been headed. It’s also part of what we’re meant to do as Christians. When you help someone who has fallen, smile at someone sad, or text a friend and tell them you hope to see them soon and hang out, you are being a light and reflecting the goodness of God.
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that[a] they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
~ Matthew 5:16 (ESV)
Small acts of kindness and words of affirmation are on display in episode 3 of Catch Me At The Ballpark! The mascot of the MotorSuns, Sun-Shiro, is shaped like a baseball…dinosaur (?), and goes around the stadium using a notepad instead of using his voice to encourage or give advice.
He helps a batter improve his swing and demonstrates enough knowledge of English to speak with an American baseball player about Chicago-style pizza. While passing by Ruriko, the main character who serves beer as a server to the fans, encourages her to keep going when she seems tired.
Even during the game, a stray ball almost hits a toddler, but Sun-Shiro catches it in time and saves her life (or at least saves her from a nasty boo-boo)! What can’t this mascot do?
The fans, players, and staff love Sun-Shiro and his positivity; he’s a reminder to the stadium that the MotorSuns are a special team, and he makes the game more enjoyable for all.
Being a Christian can be summed up as being a light where there is darkness. People who have not had anything positive or bright in their day, week, or year can see all of that change when they encounter God through his people. That encounter doesn’t have to be a huge, dramatic experience; on the contrary, it’s often the little things we do in kindness that make others see Him in us.
It might be your parents, coworkers, peers at school, or even someone online, as long as there’s another human on this side of the keyboard or in front of you, it’s a chance to shine your light. Just like with Sun-Shiro interacting with people that were in the stadium, similar opportunities open up to us almost every day. They will usually cost you just a bit of time, effort, or even money, but I encourage you to try being a light when you get those chances!
Just as Christ taught in the book of Matthew, we ought to do good deeds so that others may give God the glory for the help they received from you. There are times when God may be telling waiting on us to do the right thing, but we hesitate and simply choose not to. There’s no need to wait—let’s make that change, myself included, and be the salt of the Earth.
Thanks, Sun-Shiro, for your inspiration! Go MotorSuns!
Weekly Mission: Be kind in a small way today. You don’t have to post it on social media or tell the world about it. Go out of your way to help someone you see throughout your day.
Memory Verse: "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people..." Galatians 6:9-10 (ESV)
BtT In Review
The 2025 Annecy Film Festival is coming to a close, and we were there all week along covering it! Check out our master post for all the coverage of the world’s largest gathering of animators and animation!
Among the movies, shorts, works-in-progress, and other animation we covered are Star Wars: Visions “Black,” Nightmare Bugs, Mononoke The Movie: Chapter II - The Ashes of Rage, The Mourning Children: Nagiko and the Girls Wearing Tsurubami Black, All You Need is Kill (coming soon!), and more!
On Reader’s Corner this week, we cover a bunch of romance series (including new volumes of Pink & Habanero, Choking on Love, and A Star Brighter Than the Sun), the newest volume of Unholy Blood, Dandadan (Vol. 13), and more!
The first of our two Fanart Friday features is from Spirited Away in a surreal and modern style. The second features an unusual crossover, Oregairu x Pokemon, showing the Service Club trio as elementary schoolers with corresponding Pokemon!
Today is the deadline to enter our Taiga Aisaka (Toradora) anime figure giveaway! Like, share, and comment our Substack post to enter—and read that post for more information on other platforms you can enter through as well!
And finally, an update! Whit is taking a short (and well-deserved!) break from streaming. She’ll be back next month with big changes and a new format. Please subscribe and stay tuned!
God bless, and see you next week!