One of the best gifts I have ever received is a book by Coach John Wooden simply entitled “Wooden.” If you don’t know much about Coach Wooden, all you need to know is that he coached the UCLA Bruins to 10 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championships in 12 seasons, including 7 in a row from 1967-1973. They also had 4 perfect seasons. I say all that to say this: John Wooden is a winner. But he’s not only a great coach; he’s a great teacher, leader, mentor, and man. I would recommend his book to anyone. It has so many great thoughts, and you can expect multiple blogs from this book.
One of the first things he talks about is something he learned from his father: gentleness. He says his father was the type of man that was stronger than most men half his age, but after a day of working in the fields raising corn, hay, wheat, tomatoes, and watermelons, he would come in and read his kids poetry at night. That’s the kind of man his father was.
Coach John Wooden tells the story of a team of mules his family had named Jack and Kate. Kate would often get stubborn and lie down on John when he was plowing. He couldn’t get her up no matter how roughly he treated her. He says his dad would see his predicament and walk across the field until he was close enough to say “Kate.” Then she’d get up and start working again. He never touched her in anger. To finish it out, John says this: “It took me a long time to understand that even a stubborn mule responds to gentleness.”
Gentleness is something we can all work on. Christians are supposed to be cool-headed, calm, gentle people, but do we act that way? Maybe it’s someone you are trying to get to come to worship with you. Instead of trying to forcefully drag them into worship on Sunday, try taking a more gentle, loving approach. Maybe it’s that driver on the road that goes too slow, too fast, cuts you off, or rides your bumper. It’s no big deal! Be gentle about it. More importantly, maybe it’s your friends and family who see your tough, harsh, demanding side all too much and need some gentleness. Take some time to think about and pray for gentleness, and become the kind of person that God wants you to be.
Thomas Swinea
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