Pete lines up his tee shot on the first hole. Will his golf game be up to par?
He takes his stance, and his graceful and controlled swing looks perfect. Well it should; after all, it was just his warm-up swing.
Swinging for real, Pete’s tee shot flies away and looks to be splitting the fairway right down the middle. Suddenly, the golf ball changes direction as its speed shatters the sound barrier . . . hooking and hooking, left and more left!
Through the fairway.
Into the backyard of a home, sitting along the fairway’s left rough.
This tee shot looks hungry to score.
Through the kitchen window.
Right into Fred’s morning “Cup of Joe.”
Filled with a swagger and some pumped up jazz, Pete wanders up to the kitchen window and peers inside.
He confidently asks Fred, “Do you mind if I play through?”
Puzzled, Fred looks down at the golf ball swimming in his cup of fresh brewed coffee. Without saying a word, he seems to be singing the blues!
God is not fooled by good behavior that springs from a hard heart. Obeying Him with an unwilling spirit may achieve His purpose, but we lose the joy of our reward.
From Jonah 4:9-11: “But God said to Jonah, ‘Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?’ And he said, ‘Yes, angry enough to die.’ Then the Lord said, ‘You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also many animals?'”
A select few face overwhelming challenges in life. Encouraged by a heart filled with perseverance, these trailblazers adopt an attitude where “Can” outplays “Can’t.”
Born in 1786, young James Holman joined the British navy at age 12 during Europe’s Napoleonic Wars. He became an accomplished sailor and rose to the rank of lieutenant.
When he reached the age of 25, his life faced the insurmountable. Serving with the navy during the War of 1812 (British-American conflict), he contracted severe rheumatism. Unable to overcome the pain in his legs, ankles, and feet, Holman could barely walk. Eventually, the illness caused him to lose his eyesight.
Due to his blindness, he was awarded an act of royal charity. Joining the Knights of Windsor, he received a pension and residence at Windsor Castle. He was expected to live quietly there until his eventual death.
Holman was never content to sit idly and watch his life decline year by year. He refused to live as an isolated invalid, and he moved to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend medical school.
Queen Victoria’s own doctor backed up Holman’s need to be free from the confines of Windsor Castle. His painful rheumatism responded well to healing sunshine from continuous travel’s change of scenery and climate.
Holman’s time at Edinburgh motivated him to travel the world and fill his days with curiosity and fun. In 1819, he began his first journey to Europe, and he continued this quest over the next four decades. Traveling unaccompanied, he always traveled solo.
Left: A young James Holman from his naval days (courtesy of NPR). Right: A mature Holman with a full-grown beard (courtesy of Vintage News).
His first foreign travels took him to France. With little money, unable to speak the native language, and blind, Holman found his life’s purpose. His own words described his initial travels: “Behold me, then, in France! Surrounded by a people, to me, strange, invisible, and incomprehensible.”
By 1832, he had completed circumnavigation of the globe. By 1846, he had visited every inhabited continent. It was calculated that he traveled an estimated 400,000 kilometers. His metal-tipped walking stick was a constant companion.
Many adventures awaited Holman over the years. In Russia, he was imprisoned and later exiled as a spy. In Africa, he was involved in actions against the slave trade.
In his later years, Holman compiled memoirs of his travels. Five volumes would eventually be published, but most were not widely read.
Following his death in 1857, Holman’s life moved to obscurity. His adventures were long forgotten, but this would change.
In 2006, author James Roberts published a biography of Holman’s life and travels in A Sense of the World: How a Blind Man Became History’s Greatest Traveler.
People once again discovered the man known as the “Time Traveler.”
For more details about Holman’s extraordinary life, here is a link to more: Explorers Web.
While the novelist is banging on his typewriter, the poet is watching a fly in the windowpane.
The trouble with poetry is that it encourages the writing of more poetry.
Billy Collins (born 1941) is an American poet who served as America’s Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003. He has published several collections of his poetry.
Where the soul is full of peace and joy, outward surroundings and circumstances are of comparatively little account.
From John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”
Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911) was an American lay speaker and Christian author. She was an active voice during the women’s suffrage movement as well as the temperance movement in the United States.
William Stanley Merwin (W. S.) was an American poet with over 50 books of poetry and prose. Over his lifetime (1927-2019), he was honored with numerous awards: including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (1971 and 2009) and becoming United States Poet Laureate in 2010.
From Colossians 3:12: “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
From Colossians 3:13-14: “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”
History repeat itself, but human nature remains the same.
There is no communication in this world except between equals.
Ken Burns (born 1953) is an American filmmaker who specializes in documentaries about American history and culture. Many of his works have been presented in PBS.
Big Sky Buckeye 