Works in Progress

"The golf swing is just about the farthest thing from a perfectible discipline in athletics...The most reliable swings are only relatively repeatable.  They never stop being works in progress."

Butch Harmon (citation below)

When it comes to golf, I have never been more than a dabbler.  I have never been committed to playing and improving at golf as I have with others sports like baseball or ten-pin bowling.  I have never had professional lessons, have never been a member of a club, or played competitively.  To me golf is a fun activity over the past decades I have had various levels of engagement with, and my seasons of playing "regular" golf once a week is dwarfed by long stretches when I wasn't playing.

I don't believe a sane person steps onto a golf course and expects to play at the level they played in previous years without practice.  As a teacher of professional golfers, Butch Harmon knows what he is talking about.  Players at the top of their game, people who have dedicated their lives to hitting a golf ball with accurate precision, do not maintain their skill without hard work.  It is easy to develop bad habits.  It is relatively simple for a pro to know what to do, but even they end up in deep rough, bunkers, and hit into the water.  Executing a shot under pressure is hard.  Overcoming injuries is part of every sport, and navigating the changes age brings and remaining mentally strong separates decent golfers from great ones.

This need for constant maintenance and labour to maintain a consistently good golf swing reminds me of the effort a Christian must expend in following Jesus.  No matter our age, perceived level of maturity, or role in the church, we are all works in progress.  Watching golfers walk through beautiful scenery over a weekend and making millions of dollars seems quite the life, but it is good to have an awareness of the kind of dedication and practice required to reach such a level of play.  To play golf at a high level requires years of practice, thousands of practice shots of all kinds, and continual coaching.  As we follow Christ we also must examine our hearts and minds, confessing and repenting of sin, and pressing on in faith.

Our hearts and minds are more difficult to manage than a slice or hook.  What often happens with us dabbling golfers is we learn to manage our slice rather than correcting it through mechanics.  We stop aiming at the target itself because we project our former tendencies into the current shot.  The Gospel enables us to be overcomers, to live our lives in perfect alignment with God - not to put up with sinful behaviour we dismiss like a "power slice" - as if that's our intention and we wouldn't rather hit straight and true.  God's will is for us to examine our own hearts, repent of our sin, and choose to do what is right.  This takes effort and the result is humility, grace, and honour to God's glory.   We make a lot of mistakes, and God keeps loving us.  There is nothing good in us, but thanks to God's grace we can grow and persevere through trials.

We are all works in progress, and praise the LORD it is He who does the work in us as we partner with Him.

(Dweck, Carol S. Mindset. New York. Ballentine Books. 2006. Print.)