Meet Campy & Joni... and Their Crosses

“Take up your cross, and by the power of the Spirit of God you will soon be so in love with it that like Moses you would not exchange the reproach of Christ for all the treasures of Egypt. Remember that Jesus carried it; remember that it will soon be followed by the crown, and the thought of the coming weight of glory will greatly lighten the present heaviness of trouble.” – C.H. Spurgeon

Can you imagine being a Major League catcher so proficient at your position that you were named the Most Valuable Player three times in just five years? So good, in fact, that your record for throwing out would-be base stealers still stands almost 70 years after you retired from the game?

Now can you imagine being forced to retire due to a tragic car accident that fractured your fifth and sixth vertebrae, compressed your spinal cord, and initially left you paralyzed from the shoulders down?

Meet Roy “Campy” Campanella, one of the greatest catchers in MLB history.

How about being a 17-year-old girl who loved to hike, swim, ride horses, and play tennis with your whole life ahead of you. Then, one day, you miscalculate the depth of the Chesapeake Bay while diving, resulting in a fracture between your fourth and fifth vertebrae. Just like Roy Campanella, your life is instantly transformed as you become a quadriplegic.

Meet Joni Eareckson Tada, the founder and CEO of Joni and Friends, an organization designed to “accelerate Christian ministry in the disability community.”

Through intense physical therapy, Roy Campanella eventually regained the use of his arms and hands but remained wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life. However, that didn’t slow Campy down one bit as he years serving in various community relations roles with the Los Angeles Dodgers and visiting people with spinal cord injuries. He also penned his autobiography, It’s Good to Be Alive, in 1959.

As for Joni, her post-accident resume is even more impressive and God-glorifying. During her initial two years of rehabilitation, Joni experienced anger, depression, suicidal thoughts, and religious doubts. However, she also learned to paint by holding a brush in her teeth and to write by holding a pen the same way. To date, she has written more than 45 books, recorded several musical albums, and starred in an autobiographical movie of her life.

Joni received widespread media attention in 2014 for her performance of the title song from the Christian film Alone Yet Not Alone. With limited lung capacity due to her disability, Joni had her husband, Ken Tada, push on her diaphragm while she recorded the song to give her enough breath to hit the high notes.

I don’t know about you, but after reading about the crosses that Campy and Joni have had to carry, I feel ashamed about occasionally complaining about mine.

“Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?’” Matthew 16:24-26 (BSB)

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (BSB)

“Carrying His own cross, He went out to The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.” John 19:17 (BSB)

- Rev. Dale M. Glading, President