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Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
by Tom Kelley
In the 1986 Masters, Jack Nicklaus sank a putt that served as a pivotal point in his victory. He said that he was able to see the line of the putt so plainly and rolled it at the perfect speed for it to go in. This past season, at Hoylake just outside Liverpool, England, Tiger Woods put on a performance for the ages as he won The British Open handily and hardly ever used his driver. Golf pundits were lauding his performance as perfect. Hmm. Perfectly putted ball, perfectly played tournament. Perfection.
Baseball and bowling both have their "perfect game." In baseball it is a game pitched in which no one reaches first base for any reason whatsoever. No one!!! In bowling it is a game in which the bowler rolls twelve consecutive strikes for a total score of 300. However, golf has no such perfection. No one has ever golfed the perfect round which would be a score of eighteen. That would be eighteen straight aces or "holes-in-one." That is simply not possible. Well, uh, err, hmm; nah, it ain't gonna happen.
Perfection in golf is utterly impossible. No two courses are the same and no two rounds of golf are played under identical conditions. There are no perfect golfers. The names of Hogan, Snead, Palmer, Nicklaus and now Woods do come to mind. But none of those gentlemen, talented as they may have been or still are, ever completed a season without losing a tournament. Yet there are those moments that smack of perfection; those brief times when the aforementioned golfers seemingly did the impossible.
With all the work they put in practicing their craft they have been able to amaze us us with that one signature shot. The thing about it is this; to hit that signature shot you must first believe you can. All of the legends of, not just golf, but any sport, have that understanding of their ability. They know their limits but they also know their capabilities given the right moment and the right circumstances. Such a person was the apostle Peter. He did something that is absolutely impossible to human thought. A recent bumper sticker carries the challenge. "The nest time you think you're perfect try walking on water." That doesn't take perfection. It takes faith.
"And Peter answered Him and said, 'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.' So He said, 'Come.' And when Peter had come out of the boat he walked on the water to go to Jesus." Matthew 14:28,29 Peter had been around Jesus long enough to know that if Jesus commands something He will bless the one receiving the command with the power to accomplish it. Jesus doesn't ask for perfection from us. All He wants is our surrender to His will. That's not perfection; that is perfect faith.
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...He was the Minister of the Minorsville Christian Church located near Stamping Ground, KY.
...Becky and Tom have three children; John, single and in worship ministry in Nicholasville, Kentucky; Sean, married (Jennifer, elementary school teacher) with twins (Grace and Patrick, b.d. 10/31/04) and regional director of Papa John's Pizza in Central KY; Kara, married (Vince Taylor, prison guard) and working with Hospice East in Winchester, KY.
...Tom went to be with the Lord on November 13, 2009 after a lengthy battle with cancer. If you have been touched by Tom's writings please send an email to Tom's son at jkelley@catalystchristian.net
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