Latimer said, “We can talk about grace but lead lives that are very judgmental and disparaging that push people away.”

One of the Milwaukee ballgame conversations Saturday night concerned work.

Lutheran pastor Don Thompson described a Midwestern work ethic: “If you say you’ll do it, you’ll do it. If you say you’ll be there, you’ll be there. If you bid a job and it takes long, you’ll do the job at the price agreed on.”

Kids traditionally have to work to save money for their first car, instead of having parents give it to them. (Financial free grace for teens is not grace at all.)

Susan and I saw determination even at the ballpark: Some older people could barely walk up the stairs, but the Brewers were so important to them that they still attend games.

We also noticed a baseball work ethic: The prime slugger of the visiting Texas Rangers is Josh Hamilton, once a top draft choice and then a drug addict who fell out of baseball for three years. But, as Hamilton testifies, Christ changed his heart: He dropped drugs and got himself back in shape.

The Brewers’ top hitter is Prince Fielder, a first baseman with 260 pounds of official weight and looking even larger. He struck out three times and popped out with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Maybe much of the weight is genetic, but if he’s not in the best shape he can be, he’s stealing from his team and from the fans.

READ MORE: http://online.worldmag.com/2010/06/15/work-ethic/