just hit the back of the ball

Well, another Wednesday has come along with no video-post. And that’s a shame, because last week’s saw a significant up-tick in views. Most of you still ignore the invitation to view the brief message, but I honestly think it’s worth a look. Each video runs two-minutes and you can find them at my You-Tube channel, just click this link: www.youtube.com/user/DerekMaul.

GOLF! Mostly I’m late posting today because I played golf this morning on the course behind my house. It’s a good thing I enjoy being out there, and that I appreciate the company of good people, because the quality of golf being played today was sub-standard at best!

Golf is a funny sport. Analysts will dissect the mechanics of a swing and pinpoint probably 20 or more constituent parts. “Just make these forty-three small adjustments,” they’ll say, “and we believe you’ll be able to hit the ball better.”

Personally, I favor the approach touted by 2012 Masters champion Bubba Watson when he was asked about technique, training, and fine-tuning his game: “It’s simple,” Watson said, “I just try to hit the back of the ball.”

That’s pretty-much it. I stand in front of the golf ball, square the face of the golf club behind the ball, take a quick look at my target, then draw the club back and try to return it to “Position-A” as rapidly as possible.

People who worry too much about the mechanics of golf run the risk of losing the simple joy of whacking something hard with a piece of metal and watching it fly through the air.

MAKING CONTACT: Sometimes I think that’s one of the main problems with the way many people approach faith. They get caught up in the mechanics and the details and frequently forget the essential point of putting themselves in the presence of God and then responding to the invitation to live in the truth of God’s great love.

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:18-19)

Ultimately, it’s about making contact, because everything else involved in the equation is useful only inasmuch as it facilitates reconciliation. Faith is about mending the broken relationship between people and God; Jesus came to take care of the distance between us, to “square us up” as it were; the power comes when we learn to make that contact count.

Or, as Bubba Watson said, “Just try to hit the back of the ball.”

- DEREK