The Power of a Hug
From Bob Bauer's "Friday Faith Builder"-
Feb.28, 2003
In the December, 30, 1996 issue of Sports
Illustrated, columnist Rick Reilly wrote about golfer Greg Norman
and his loss of the 1996 Masters Golf Tournament. If you are familiar
with Greg Norman, you know that he can be intimidating, with his
icy-cold stoicism. It seems he learned his hard-nosed tactics from
his father. "I used to see my father getting off a plane or
something, and I'd want to hug him," he recalled once, "but
he'd only shake my hand." This had a tremendous impact upon
Norman for when commenting on his own aloofness going into the 1996
Masters golf tournament, he snorted, "Nobody really knows me
out here."
After leading the tournament from the start,
Norman blew a six-shot lead in the last round, losing to rival Nick
Faldo.
Rick Reilly wrote, "Now, as Faldo made one
last thrust into Norman's heart with a 15-foot birdie putt on the
72nd hole, the two of them came toward each other, Norman trying
to smile, looking for a handshake and finding himself in the warmest
embrace instead.
"As they held that hug, held it even as
both of them cried, Norman changed just a little. 'I wasn't crying
because I'd lost,' Norman said the next day. 'I've lost a lot of
golf tournaments before. I'll lose a lot more. I cried because I'd
never felt that from another man before. I've never had a hug like
that in my life.'"
It is sad that some have grown up knowing only
the primary expression of their father's love through his providing
the physical necessities of life. Too many fathers have spent too
much time trying to provide too many material things for their children
who really needed the things many fathers were not willing to give
their time and tenderness. In Paul first letter to Timothy, he tells
the young preacher, ". . . if anyone does not provide for
his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied
the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Timothy 5:8
NKJV). Was Paul only referring to physical needs? Would this not
also apply to spiritual and emotional needs? Hopefully, fathers
have gotten wiser over the years, and this new generation of fathers
realize the importance of giving time and tenderness to their children.
It is interesting to note that when our Lord
stood in the Temple in Jerusalem prophesying of the horrendous destruction
of it and the city, he said of Jerusalem, "O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are
sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together,
as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!"
(Matthew 23:37 NKJV). Even God desires to embrace his children.
Losing the 1996 Masters probably cost Greg Norman
close to half a million dollars in prize money -- a six stroke lead
squandered away -- but what he took away from tournament money could
not buy. It was priceless. Dads, spend some time with your son or
daughter today and, by all means, give them a hug! Don't make them
wait until they are in their forties to learn that cold aloofness
does not define manhood.
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Our
hearts go out in deepest sympathy to Frank DeBord and his family
in the passing of his cousin, Roger Reese, in Pikeville,
TN this past Thursday. Keep the DeBord family in your daily prayers
as they mourn the loss of this loved one.