No, John Hatcher

hasn't dyed his hair and donned glasses. He asked for a week off and,

grateful for the wonderful work he does every week, we gave it to him.

He will be back next week with his wonderful, thought-provoking, insightful

columns.

In the meantime,

yours truly here has been unanimously selected to fill the space. That's

good because what appears below has been saved for almost two years, waiting

until I had room to run one of my "Precious Gems" columns again.

This one really

struck my fancy since I was born into a golfing family. It also seems

particularly appropriate right now since we've just been through the Easter

season which is all about new life and starting over.

The following,

written by the Rev. Daniel Overdorf, senior minister at the Fayetteville

Christian Church, appeared in their newsletter, The Fayetteville Christian

Caller, in April of 2000. I think you will enjoy it ... especially if

you are a golfer.

"I pulled

my driver out of the bag, nervously placed the ball on a tee, and gently

pushed the tee into the soft earth. It was a beautiful spring day warm

but not hot, a gentle breeze but not windy. There was no other place in

the world I would rather have been at that moment in time.

"I shifted

my body so that my shoulders were aligned with the target an orange flag

rising from the manicured green, sitting comfortably at the end of the

carefully mowed grass of an exquisite fairway. I addressed the ball and

focused all my concentration in its 'Titelist' emblem.

"After

taking a deep breath, I slowly drew the golf club back over my shoulder

until it was parallel with the ground. In that next moment, all of the

energy and concentration I could muster culminated in the downswing of

the club. The shaft of the driver whizzed through the air and, in the

blink of an eye, the club met the ball. The crack sent chills down my

spine I just knew the ball would sail 275 yards, straight as an arrow,

down the middle of the fairway.

"But,

as I looked up, eyes searching intently for the ball soaring, it was nowhere

to be found! Finally, I heard the sound of my ball splashing into the

lake fifty yards to the right of the fairway. Ugh! My next word, and next

action, will be familiar to anyone who has ever struggled through this

game (which) some have called 'a nice walk spoiled.'

"I reached

mischievously into my pocket until my groping fingers found and clutched

another golf ball. Then that word all of three syllables and eight letters,

uttered by every golfer in the history of golf blurted from my lips ...

'Mulligan!'

"The term

'mulligan' will be found nowhere in the Official PGA Rules of Golf. It

actually means, 'more than one.' For us novice golfers, a mulligan is

a chance to turn back the hands of time and pretend that a bad shot never

took place. It's a 'do-over.'

"Wouldn't

it be nice if, in life, we could stop play and call, 'Mulligan'? Wouldn't

it be great to turn back the hands of time and pretend those painfully

harsh words never left our lips? Or pretend that mistake just didn't happen?

Wouldn't it be nice to have mulligans in life?

"Well,

I've got good news for you (or perhaps the Good News) ... God gives

mulligans! God grants the opportunity to start again as if, as far as

he is concerned, our sins never took place. In Hebrews 10:17, God said,

'Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.'

"Resolve

to start brand new with God. Lay your repentant heart open before Him

and allow His grace to do its fabulous cleansing work. Sins erased, mistakes

forgotten, may we strive with all our concentration and energies to live

as new creatures growing and maturing daily in Him.

"Thank

God for mulligans!"

Judy Kilgore

is Religion Editor for The Citizen

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