42: Courage
Ash Wednesday 2025
According to the classic science-fiction novel, “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy,” by Douglas Adams, the number 42 is the “Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything.” Didn’t you always want to know the answer to everything?? My middle school best friend exhibited a similar sense of humor when she once read to me the definition to “life” in the dictionary and announced that she had found the meaning of life!
This Lent we’re going to continue the tongue-in-cheek humor by reflecting on five of the six chapter 42’s in the Bible (seven if you count the apocryphal book, Sirach). But first, we’re going to begin with the most famous number 42, Jackie Robinson.
Jackie Robinson was the first Black player in the modern era of professional baseball, integrating the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He played for ten seasons, winning Rookie of the Year, MVP, and All-Star awards. Even though he was a phenomenal player and had the backing of the Dodgers management, he still experienced derisive actions and speech from other players, including some of his teammates. Jackie Robinson knew what he was getting into and was specifically asked by the Dodgers General Manager to have “guts enough to not fight back.” There are different ways of changing things, and Branch Rickey knew Robinson wouldn’t last long if he responded angrily to every insult. Robinson was able to quietly play ball, prove himself by his abilities, and pave the way for other players of color. Once he retired, then he began speaking out. By then, his physical health began to deteriorate. I suspect the years of keeping quiet took a toll and “the body keeps the score,” as Dr. Bessel van der Kolk says.
In Major League Baseball, the number 42 is retired across all teams; no one is allowed to wear it except on April 15, Jackie Robinson Day, when every player wears it. The PBS Kids show, “Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum,” which highlights “ordinary people who changed the world” released a special episode on Jackie Robinson. In this retelling, Jackie learns this mantra from his mom: “When something isn’t right, it takes courage to change it.” Jackie repeats this sentence to himself throughout the episode when faced with the injustice and oppression of racism, both personally and at a systemic level.
While 42 may not be the answer to everything, recognizing when something isn’t right and having the courage to change it are important skills. They remind me of the serenity prayer, originally written by theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and most often found with this wording:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
Things that are immoral, unethical, and unjust need changing. Systems of abuse and oppression need changing. Sometimes the courage comes in the discernment of how to change them, and that often comes with community. Contrary to the American myth of the rugged cowboy who saves the day single-handed, we do not have to change things all by ourselves, nor will we be very successful at it if we try. Courage comes in community. Jackie Robinson was not the only one combating racism in sports, or even in baseball. Commentaries are quick to say that he was the first one “in the modern era of baseball,” because there were players in the early days of baseball and more followed after. You are not alone, either. There is community all around you, if you but look. We are with you.