<em>Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:60, NIV)</em>
Not long ago, Ben Hogan made me feel very good. I mean just a week or two ago, which is impressive for a dead guy. I mean Ben, not me.
Anyway, here’s how he did it. I came across a list of his stock yardages. I’ll give you the whole thing, because I think you’ll enjoy it.
Sand wedge – 80 yards
Pitching wedge – 100 yards
9-iron – 115 yards
8-iron – 125 yards
7-iron – 135 yards
6-iron – 145 yards
5-iron – 155 yards
4-iron – 165 yards
3-iron – 175 yards
2-iron – 185 yards
1-iron – 195 yards
3-wood – 235 yards
Driver – 265 yards
There are a lot of things to love about this list. His wedges aren’t named for their loft. He carried a 1-iron. And a 2. His woods really were. And there is that nasty gap between the 1-iron and the 3-wood. Makes you want to know what he did from 210.
But what I love most about this list is that, for the irons at least, those are pretty much my distances anymore. I’d be embarrassed to admit it, but sometimes the cancer wins. At least I still get to play and I still enjoy it. Last time out, I made two of the ugliest birdies you’ve ever seen. The guys I was playing with, including a former US Am runner-up, laughed with me. They weren’t embarrassed.
It’s time to move forward. And forward is keeping in step with Jesus.
But there’s also a problem. Those were Hogan’s numbers <em>in 1945</em>. I’ve got to drop back 76 years to compare myself favorably to a truly great player. And I haven’t really fessed up to the fact that my driver now has to strrrrrrrrretch to outdistance Hogan’s 1-iron.
In a terse instruction to a man who waffled at following him because he needed first to bury a relative, Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” Wow, that seems cold. But here was Jesus’ point: It’s time to move forward. And forward is keeping in step with him.
The past is almost never a good place to live. More than whether it was appropriate to care for a loved one, this was what Jesus was driving at. We can always choose to cling to the comfortable or the unchallenging. We can be satisfied with hitting a 7-iron 135 yards, because anything better would require learning and fitness and practice. But what Jesus is trying to do in our lives is make us better. I mean, what other result should we expect from following him?
Paul told the Philippians that his practice in life was to “press on.” He was leaving the past behind and endeavoring to win “the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” I know Paul is even older than Ben Hogan, but I think I’ll follow his same course. Lead me on, Lord. Lead me on.
—
Jeff Hopper
July 27, 2021
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