In between naps yesterday I was watching a movie on the Golf Channel. The Legend of Bagger Vance starring Will Smith and Matt Damon. Although many would consider this a movie about golf, it is much deeper than that. Bagger Vance is a movie about God and a man's relationship to him.
For those who haven't seen the movie, I'll try to sum up the basic premise. Rannulph Junuh is a promising young golfer, poised to become one of the best to play the game. When WWI starts, Junuh enlists and, while at war, sees the horrific things that soldiers see in war. He comes back a broken man. As the Great Depression sweeps the country Junuh is put in a position to play in a golf tournament with two other great golfers in an effort to save the country club left to his former fiancee when her father succumbs to the effects of the depression and takes his own life.
Junuh hasn't picked up a club in years, but while practicing his drives one night, out of the darkness emerges a caddy, Bagger Vance. Junuh is reluctant to accept the help from Bagger, but slowly starts to see the advantage of following the caddy's advice. As the movie goes on, Junuh becomes more and more confident in his abilities, but in doing so feels less and less reliant on Bagger Vance. Then, instead of laying up on a hole, decides he's going to "go for the win". Bagger tries to tell Junuh that, "There's a time to play that shot, and a time to leave it in the bag."
I know I've been guilty of that myself, probably more often than I care to admit. When I should be "leaving it in the bag" and trusting in God to show me the right direction, I "play the shot". I don't mean to say that I take unnecessary risks, as most who know me would probably not think of me as one who takes too many risks. What I mean though is that I don't do what is right for me or best for me at that moment in my life. I want what I want and when I want it. I get impatient so, instead of laying up on the shot, I end up hitting the shot in to the bunker.
I guess the hard part for me is knowing when it's time to play the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag. When do we take our stance and just knock the living crap out of the ball and when do we lay up? We've got to trust God to let us know when what we want may not be what is best for us. We've got to be ok with the answer we get to be "no".
I'll keep striving to achieve that balance. I'll keep listening for God to let me know when it's time to hit the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag.
For those who haven't seen the movie, I'll try to sum up the basic premise. Rannulph Junuh is a promising young golfer, poised to become one of the best to play the game. When WWI starts, Junuh enlists and, while at war, sees the horrific things that soldiers see in war. He comes back a broken man. As the Great Depression sweeps the country Junuh is put in a position to play in a golf tournament with two other great golfers in an effort to save the country club left to his former fiancee when her father succumbs to the effects of the depression and takes his own life.
Junuh hasn't picked up a club in years, but while practicing his drives one night, out of the darkness emerges a caddy, Bagger Vance. Junuh is reluctant to accept the help from Bagger, but slowly starts to see the advantage of following the caddy's advice. As the movie goes on, Junuh becomes more and more confident in his abilities, but in doing so feels less and less reliant on Bagger Vance. Then, instead of laying up on a hole, decides he's going to "go for the win". Bagger tries to tell Junuh that, "There's a time to play that shot, and a time to leave it in the bag."
I know I've been guilty of that myself, probably more often than I care to admit. When I should be "leaving it in the bag" and trusting in God to show me the right direction, I "play the shot". I don't mean to say that I take unnecessary risks, as most who know me would probably not think of me as one who takes too many risks. What I mean though is that I don't do what is right for me or best for me at that moment in my life. I want what I want and when I want it. I get impatient so, instead of laying up on the shot, I end up hitting the shot in to the bunker.
I guess the hard part for me is knowing when it's time to play the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag. When do we take our stance and just knock the living crap out of the ball and when do we lay up? We've got to trust God to let us know when what we want may not be what is best for us. We've got to be ok with the answer we get to be "no".
I'll keep striving to achieve that balance. I'll keep listening for God to let me know when it's time to hit the shot, and when it's time to leave it in the bag.
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