I saw what grace looked like the other day.

You did, too, if you caught it on ESPN or dialed up YouTube to watch the most precious piece of footage this old sap of a father (and baseball fan) has seen in some time. In a nutshell: Philadelphia Phillies baseball fan Steve Monforto took his family to the game, leaned over the upper-deck railing and made a fabulous catch of a foul ball, handed it to his three-year-old daughter, Emily, and then sat stunned and helpless as she threw it over the railing to the fans below. Emily didn’t hesitate for an instant. She’s been playing catch with her dad, and she threw it just like Daddy taught her.

Now here’s where the story takes a spiritual turn, at least in my eyes (and soft heart).

For half an instant – an eighth of a second at most – Montforto looked slightly horrified. After all, he had brought his baseball glove in hopes of catching his first foul ball. We’d have sympathized if his horror had turned to disappointment or even a hint of anger. But quicker than a dad can tell a daughter “I love you no matter what,” a wide, warm smile came to his lips. He grabbed up Emily in his arms and starting hugging her for all she was worth. As the normally ornery Phillies fans all around them erupted in cheers, Emily hugged her daddy back. She had no idea what she done, all she knew was that her daddy was hugging her and that called for hugging him back. There they remained for several beautiful seconds, father and daughter wrapped in a pure and unqualified embrace, long enough for the rest of us to reach for the Kleenex.

Oh what that hug said.

It said “I love you always and forever.”

“I forgive you no matter what.”

“There’s nothing this old world throws at us that we can’t handle so long as we have each other.”

Funny how life works. We look to the church and the Bible for the strength and wisdom to show God’s love. To personify grace. Then there it is, at a baseball game in Philly of all places: A father, a daughter, a foul ball and what happened next.