What makes a class memorable? A job worthwhile? A marriage wonderful? An event unprecedented? Or a life worth living? At least one element of the answer to all these questions can be illustrated by a recent experience in the life of John Yates. He called it his “most memorable moment” in golf.

    Yates wasn’t even playing on the day in question. He was just one of the thousands of spectators for the final round of the 2003 Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan. He was standing in the huge gallery at No. 7 to watch none other than Tiger Woods hit his approach shot to the hole.

    Wood’s drive veered to the right, and smacked John Yates squarely in the head! The ball cut Yates, raised a big knot, and bounced into the greenside bunker.

    A concerned Tiger Woods went to Yates to apologize. He found his victim lying on his back, conscious but bleeding. “I’m so sorry,” Woods said. Shaking Yates’ hand, the world’s most famous golfer said, “Hang in there!” And he turned to the tournament marshals to ask if medical help was coming.

    Woods continued play. Wouldn’t you know it? He made birdie on No. 7! Then he came back to Yates and gave him a glove and ball. Yates had to have a few stitches in his head. Otherwise, he was fine in a few days.

    “I helped him out because my head knocked it back toward the hole,” said a good-spirited Yates of the whole affair. “He birdied the hole, I guess. I didn’t see it. It’s my most memorable moment in golf.”

“Hang in there!”

    Believe it or not, it’s a parable about life. Some of my most worthwhile classes in college were the ones where I quickly discovered I was over my head, botched the first exam or two, and buckled down to my task, only to make an A. Of more value than the grade was the discovery that tough challenges are good for you. They bring out your best. They prove you can do what looked impossible.

    You’ve found that out by surviving a tough economy. Or maybe you found that not surviving a downturn with your job or company didn’t mean losing hope. It made you creative. It revealed your fierce determination. It shaped character. Someone has put it this way: “Diamonds cannot be polished without friction nor our human lives perfected without trials.”

    In personal, family, or professional life, tough blows cause real pain. But if the pain were taken out of our lives, the great virtues of courage, endurance, faith, compassion, hope, and love would go too. As it is, we often look back only to find that suffering created the opportunity for life’s most memorable moments.

 

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© 2003, Rubel Shelly. Used by permission. From Rubel Shelly's "FAX of Life" printed each Tuesday. See Faith Matters for previous issues of the "FAX of Life."

Title: "My Most Memorable Moment"
Author: Rubel Shelly
Publication Date: September 9, 2003