“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. – Jesus: Matthew 5:43-45

Monday I enjoyed the rare privilege of taking three friends along for a golf outing over in Wake Forest. The occasion was a fund-raising tournament benefiting the Frankie Lemon School and Developmental Center foundation.

While the mission of the school is “to encourage growth in all areas for children with and without special needs,” it is the kids who face special challenges – and their families – who tend to tug at the heartstrings and make these tournaments work.

The day was one of those occasions when everyone involved leaves feeling better. A good cause benefiting good people; a spectacularly beautiful fall day; a world class facility; over $100,000 raised; a format where a foursome of reasonably competent golfers can post a score in the 60’s; the presence of so many positive and generous people in one place; a spirit of goodwill reminding us all of what is really important.

Then, and this is my takeaway from the day, there was the 18th hole, where a professional long-drive champion was there to offer exhibition shots, tips, and of course the opportunity for generous hearted people to give more money to the Foundation.

The pro did a short-take analysis of my friend Jerome’s swing. Mr. Pro watched Jerome hit a drive, he watched again, he shook his head and then he asked this question. “Why is it that you stand that way when you’re getting ready to hit the ball?”

He offered a couple of tips too, most importantly that we approach play with a positive image of ourselves rather than constant self-criticism.

Postive image… plus reinvention:

Of course, if we are going to effect lasting change (in our game or in any aspect of living) along with that positive outlook we must also – beginning with our setup – reinvent pretty much everything from the ground up.

It’s like a good word that made its way to the surface in the Men’s Bible Study this morning: “Jesus is a circuit breaker.”

Rather than falling back into old patterns, repeating the same mistakes over and over, thinking that “the way things are” is the only possibility and living as if tradition and habit are sacred and inviolable – instead of doubling down and being wrong only more so, God introduced Jesus into history as a circuit breaker.

It’s not working! The cycles of revenge and retribution and hatred do not lead to peace. The efforts to mend things with God by keeping complex and unreasonable religious laws fall short. Initiatives to legislate other people’s morality always fail.

Jesus can be – must be – a circuit breaker in our lives. None of the complex history that is a repeated cycle of what does not work needs to hold any sway.

Prayer: “I can’t do this on my own, Lord, I fail before I even get started. We cannot solve the world’s ills by continually repeating this nonsense. I give myself to you; I accept your love; please help me to share this love with my neighbor. How about we just start from scratch? – Amen.”

There is no path forward other than Jesus – DEREK

(video, below: I could repeat this poor setup and lousy swing a thousand times and the result would never change. Into the creek every time!!)