Boston. It’s one of America’s great cities, the home of Harvard and MIT, and the birthplace of the American Revolution.

The Gaffneys took in the sights of Beantown last summer. Along the Freedom Trail, we were humbled and grateful for the courage and boldness of our nation’s founding fathers. We scouted for lanterns at the Old North Church and laid stones atop Paul Revere’s gravestone. We wondered at the sea turtles of the New England Aquarium, shared a meal and laughter at Cheers, dumped tea in the harbor, and dined on freshly caught “lobstah.”

For me, the most memorable experience was the trip to Fenway Park. After more than forty years of life, I was finally going to a Boston Red Sox game at THE Fenway Park, the house that Williams, Yastrzemski, Rice, and Ortiz built. We were in the presence of Wally, the green monster, and the lone red seat. Only two major league ballparks remain where Babe Ruth played, and Fenway is one of them. We rooted for the home team, sang “Sweet Caroline”, and indulged in way too much ballpark food.

After the Red Sox victory, we hit the team store on Jersey Street. I made sure we walked away with proper swag.

But the journey wasn’t complete. One thing remained: the Ted Williams statue. Every true Sox fan knows the legend of Ted Williams. Ball clubs were terrified every time he stepped up to the plate and rearranged entire defensive schemes to stop him, but it didn’t work. Williams, in an era before moneyball and metrics, was a master with a bat in his hands. I wasn’t going to wait another forty years to see the statue of Ted Williams. After a quick Google search, we set off on foot. Rounding Jersey Street to Van Ness, we maneuvered around assembling crowds. Barricades and ballpark security formed a barrier around the players’ cars. Luxury sedans, pricey crossovers, and a couple of sports cars neatly lined the street.

Fans were ready with cell phones, crisp new baseballs, and jerseys, all waiting for their favorite player to make an appearance. If they were lucky, one of the players would say hello and give an autograph. Being there for Williams, we pressed on. Through the narrow sidewalk passageway on Van Ness, we bobbed and weaved our way through the crowds to the statue on the opposite end of the street.

After snapping a picture of the statue and taking a moment to savor the whole experience, I snuck one last look at the crowds on Van Ness. Twenty minutes had passed, and there was an air of excitement. At any moment, the doors would burst open for Jarren Duran, Trevor Story, and Roman Anthony to emerge to roars of cheers and applause. The crowds waited faithfully, excitedly, and attentively.

Preparing for Easter, I’ve been thinking about those crowds and how they waited in expectation for their heroes to emerge. Reflecting, I’ve found myself asking: “Am I waiting like that for Jesus?”

If we truly believe in the resurrection of Jesus, we should be waiting faithfully, excitedly, and attentively. After all, He’s returned once already and has promised to return again. Unfortunately, whether as individuals and churches, that’s not how we wait. Instead, we live like we believe in the immaculate birth of Jesus but not His supernatural re-birth from the dead. We water down our faith so that, instead of being quenched by the living water, we settle for the bullet points at the end of a spiritual self-help book.

This Easter, stop and take stock. The resurrected king invites us to more. He invites us to more than we can possibly ask for or imagine. He hasn’t stopped being God. The living God is still greater than our doubts, suffering, and loneliness. The Lord of Heaven’s armies is greater than addiction, illness, poverty, war, famine, and catastrophe. He’s greater than a baseball team’s eighty-six year World Series drought, and he invites all of us to follow him, join in his work in conquering the grave, and run into marvelous light.

Accept His invitation and live well in the marvelous light. The resurrected life is one of kindness, gentleness, patience, and self-control. It’s doing the little things nobody sees because Jesus sees. It’s listening with humility and intention because Jesus listens with humility and intention. It’s bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into the reality of those around us because His kingdom has room for many, many more. It’s love as love should be as we wait faithfully, excitedly, and attentively for Jesus to return again.

And that’s way better than an autograph.

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Jordan Gaffney is the Marshall County Attorney.