Sunday Morning Thoughts-Forgiveness & Redemption

Happy Sunday! Hope this small missive is worth your read.

God takes care of fools and drunks and your (not so) humble scribe, certainly qualifies on both counts. When Her Majesty and I were searching for a place to plant our flag, we ended up buying a little cottage on Lake Logan Martin near Talladega (Ricky Bobby!). We bought the house in the middle of June not realizing that during the winter, Alabama Power drops the lake level to do maintenance on the dam and for other reasons.

Most of the folks at my end of the lake either beach their boats or put them in storage because of this. Our dock however, has water year-round, meaning I can float a boat 12 months a year, while some of my neighbors can’t. God Takes care of fools and drunks, right? At this point I wouldn’t blame you for asking, “Are you going somewhere with this Ford?” Please bear with me.

This last Monday, President Donald Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods in the White House Rose Garden. Predictably as with all things remotely related to Donald Trump, the naysayers were out in force to diminish this wonderful celebration of achievement and redemption (more on the redemption later). Two of my fellow RedStaters have written about some of this vitriol here and here. Please have a look.

This article however, is about forgiveness and redemption. Tiger Woods and I are a lot alike—well, except that he’s tall & rangy, while I’m short & fat (but I’m slow too). He’s earned a large fortune; Me? Not so much. He has an engaging personality, while I often come across like a rhino with hemorrhoids. He’s a Universe-Level Golfer. When I show up to play, the greens keepers start cursing violently, fellow golfers laugh uncontrollably and the Beer Babes call for reinforcements.

Other than that, we’re a lot alike—really. Both of us have had some great years and some down decades. The down times, have often been self inflicted, usually because of a refusal to keep the promises that form the basis for any enduring relationship between a man, a woman and their children. In Tiger’s case, there were also some injuries—injuries that resulted in a couple incidents with the law because of misuse of pain medication.

I’m not going to recite a litany of Woods’ “sins,” for the simple reason that I’d have to confess all my own and RedState has a word count limit. Suffice it to say, between conduct issues and injuries, Woods and I were on the bench for a long while, he as a player and sponsoree, I as a Soldier and father.

But Tiger Woods wouldn’t quit. He climbed back up the steep pyramid of Golf and through dint of hard work and determination, won the Masters and was honored by the President. There are those who would continue to denigrate him and refuse to forgive his previous conduct. Her Majesty and I are not among them. How could we be? How could I be? If there is no forgiveness and redemption, then I would be in a world of hurt and still estranged from my beautiful daughters. Her Majesty and I will continue to pray for Woods and his path back to the light. If we cannot see Tiger Woods as worthy of forgiveness and redemption, than how can we be worthy of such?

Mike Ford is a retired Infantry Officer who writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor10394583

You can find his other Red State work here.