KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Career
WHO? DO NOT feel embarrassed if you have never heard of Dave Karaff...
That's really the reason his is a sad tale. He is the scout who signed one of the biggest superstars in baseball, maybe one of the best hitters to play the game in quite some time. Dave signed Albert Pujols, whom he scouted in and around the Independence, Missouri, area. Pujols lasted until the 13th round of the June, 1999, draft. That simply means a whole lot of teams overlooked Pujols until Karaff's savvy advice was taken. St. Louis Cardinal ownership should be extremely grateful to Karaff. They have been to the World Series with Pujols and he no doubt has helped ticket receipts during the regular season. What grand gesture did the brass in St. Louis pay Mr. Karaff? In 2003, in a "shake-up of the Cardinals' scouting department" (The Record, Newark, NJ, 5/24/06, Section S-4), Karaff was fired. Today, he's stocking shelves in an Arkansas Wal-Mart.
One might say, "Wow! What a plummet! From big league scout that helped land Albert Pujols to stock boy at Wally World." Of course, others on Wal-Mart's payroll might not appreciate your intended meaning. Well, some details are missing. You might say, "What ingrates that team's management are! They fire the guy who signed their bread and butter, franchise player." Well, some details are missing. And, the details are not dramatic. Karaff tried to retire, but couldn't. He needed health insurance, so he went to work at Wal-Mart. In the ownership's defense, general manager Walt Jocketty seems to imply that Karaff, other than the Pujols' coup, may not have been that productive for the team as a scout.
The bottom line is that life is cyclical. You experience ups and downs in your career, in the amount of recognition you receive, and in how positive or negative you think your life is at the moment. There are "riches to rags" stories as well as "rags to riches" ones. Just remember the constant, whether you find yourself a hero or a goat. Keep your spiritual position and condition right, whatever your material, earthly position and condition may be. The saddest part of Karaff's (or anyone else's) tale is not being disgraced or displaced. It is being weighed on heaven's perfect scales and being found eternally wanting. For the Christian, this is even more tragic (cf. 2 Pet. 2:20-22). Let us always let God's word keep clear our picture of success and failure. As long as we are right with him, it matters little whether we are high up the corporate ladder or using a six-foot aluminum one to put blenders on the top shelf. (Neal Pollard)
KneEmail: "He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap" (Psm. 133:7).