Hole in One
“Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.” Job 21:10 KJV
I was a typical little boy and I wanted to be just like my Dad. At one point in his life my father got into the game of golf. Being a little lad at the time, I was thrilled when my Dad cut the length of one of his old golf cubs to the right size for a little boy like me. It kept me entertained in the backyard for quite some time. Granted, we didn’t have very big backyard, but for a little boy like me, with a big imagination, it was like a PGA golf course.
One day I was in the backyard with my new golf club and a golf ball. I teed up the golf ball and I could hear the roar of the crowd in my imagination. Proudly I stepped up to the tee. I licked the tip of my finger and raised it in the air so I could test the wind’s direction. Then I concentrated very deeply on my shot. I reached back real far and took my swing. Up in the air the ball lifted. Over the fence it went. It might have been the perfect shot had it not been for the neighbor’s window. You guessed it; my little white ball of magic met the reality of broken glass. Let’s just say, my Dad wasn’t too thrilled with my golfing efforts.
The neighbors weren’t home, so my Dad, ever the trooper, went to the local hardware store and purchased a pane of glass to replace the one I had left disfigured. It was I who he made pay for the pane, though. I remember to this day that it cost fifty cents, which was a lot of money at the time for a kid like me. In fact, I didn’t have a lot left in my small savings left after that. My father went to work on replacing the pane before the neighbors got back home. As he was replacing it, something happened and the pane he was working on broke. He would have to go back to the hardware store and get another one. Guess who had to pay for that one, too? One hint, it wasn’t my father. “If you had to pay someone to come out to fix it, it would cost you more than that,” he proclaimed.
To this day, I’m not real sure what the lesson was that he was trying to teach me. I know one thing it taught me: I haven’t been fond of golf ever since. I’m sure there is something in there about taking responsibility for one’s actions, too.
It wasn’t the best of times in America. The rich kept getting richer and the poor kept getting poorer. The middle class was being squeezed almost into nonexistence. Government seemed to side with business. We were a country of two classes: rich and poor. Those who did have work were paid very low wages, treated very poorly, and expected to work very long hours.
One group decided to take action. They were the workers at Carnegie Steel Company. They joined the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers union. They called a strike to demand better working conditions, like an eight hour day. The factory manager, Henry Clay Frick, was not too happy about this and he called in replacement workers. He also hired the Pinkerton guards to protect these workers. The striking workers weren’t very happy with this development so they clashed with the guards. In the end seven guards and nine workers were killed.
Six years before the strike, workers decided to hold a peaceful demonstration in the Haymarket Square in Chicago. The police arrived to break up the crowd and killed several of the protesters. Many citizens were starting to question just whose side the government was actually on. One group, the anarchists, went so far as to say all government was bad. When the working conditions worsened and worsened, more and more people started to listen to the anarchists. Soon the anarchists started taking really radical stances on issues. They felt everyone should be able to do whatever they felt and there shouldn’t be any rules. There were some who thought the solution might lie in the assassination of business and political leaders.
Emma Goldman was an immigrant who was born in what is now Kaunas, Lithuania. She was inspired by the Haymarket Affair to explore the anarchist cause. She would become one of the group’s chief writers and lecturers. She and her lover, Alexander Berkman, who she would call Sasha, would even attempt to assassinate Henry Clay Frick, the factory manager above. In fact, Berkman would even break into Frick’s office, fire three shots at Frick and stab Frick in his leg. Frick would survive, but Berkman would be beat unconscious by workers and then be hauled off to jail where he would be sentenced to 22 years in prison for the attempt. Goldman, who was a very inspiring speaker, would now hit the lecture circuit.
It was a very, very long meeting. There was a lot to go over. All the little details had to be perfect. When you have a big project like this you don’t want too many hands in the pot. It was decided that he should go. He took along a few of his fellow advisors, but when it came to an actual meeting with the boss, he went in alone. I’ve been in many meetings in my day, but none as long as the one he was to attend.
God called Moses to the top of Mount Sinai. It would be a forty day and forty night meeting. God would go over things like: offerings, Holy incense, consecration of priests, the Sabbath, and Atonement taxes. He would give detailed instructions for things like: chest, tables, lamp posts, altars, courtyards, breastplates, ephod, tunics, wash basins and even the dwelling itself. For seven chapters He covers many different things.
People started wondering if something might have happened to Moses. Forty days is a long time to go without a leader. The crowd got restless and decided to take matters into their own hands. They ordered Aaron, Moses’ brother, to make them a god. Now if you want a god to keep you safe, what type of creature should it be? How about a dragon or a grizzly bear or even a lion? No, they chose a calf. I’m sure there was some reason they chose a calf, but if I’m an enemy and I see the best they can do is to have a god who is a calf, I’m thinking this might not be too hard of a group to knock off. That’s just me though.
Moses came down out of the mountain and was very upset by what he saw. He can’t believe the people he led gave up on God’s leadership because they wanted to be able to do things their own way.
One day at one of Emma Goldman’s lectures there was a man named Leon Czolgosz. The somewhat lazy former factory worker was very taken by what she had to say. It sounded like a perfect society, one with no rules, where you can do what you wanted. What could be better than a society that frowns of the capitalist ideas and prosperity as evil thoughts? Spiritual, business and political leaders were considered the enemy. He found his calling. He was called to be an anarchist.
One of the biggest problems the anarchists faced was the economy was improving and things were starting to get better for everyone. New, modern inventions were making their way to the market. In fact, many of these new inventions were going to be on display at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. Everyone was excited. Even the President was going to be there.
President McKinley was advised to avoid the meet and greet he wanted to have in front of the Temple of Music. McKinley wouldn’t listen. McKinley gave a brief speech and then went to shaking hands. Czolgosz was in the crowd with the .32-caliber Johnson revolver. He approached the President and McKinley reached to shake his hand. Czolgosz would fire two shots into the President and the next day’s headlines would blare out the news of the President’s assassination. Czolgosz believed that the anarchists would have that final victory they needed. Everyone would now come around to their cause. The plan backfired as the whole nation turned against the whole group.
Sometimes we have great images of being a great golfer or designing our own god. Sometimes we think this nonfunctioning thing we call a government should be done away with so we can just do whatever we want to do. Imagination has its limits though. Reality is the place God has set us and I believe He expects us to look to Him for direction and not lift our dreams above His.
Prayer: Dear Mighty Father, Sometimes our thoughts get stuck in our own imagination. Sometimes we mistakenly think our ways are better than Your ways. When I start heading in that direction, please tug at me to keep on Your path. Amen.
