“No matter how hard a problem appeared, he always assumed there was a simpler solution, and usually this led him to finding one.”    -from The New York Times obituary on IBM's genius, John Cocke

   It may be the hardest game to master of any of the popular sports. The complexities of movement, the impact of slight mistakes and the frustration that follows any miss can make playing it a grueling experience. It uses a ball but you are the only one who touches it.  

   The game is golf. Yet, any game can teach something you can apply in your life.

   That happened for me recently. I started playing golf more than fifty years ago. But, success has generally eluded me. 

   I took lessons occasionally. They were always characterized by a dense set of instructions  followed by this advice: "Free your mind of thought."

   Of course, I rarely improved and didn't commit to the constant practice required to play at even an average level. It didn't seem worth it.

   On the edge of quitting, I decided to take my first lesson in fifteen years. The teacher, a lanky English woman named May Wood, said: "Stand closer to the ball, bend your knees slightly."

   On my first swing the ball sailed out as straight and pure as water from a fire hose. Most of the subsequent swings generated the same result. Surprisingly, I had been doing many things right so that the one small shift May Wood suggested made a big difference. 

   She gave me no further advice. Instead, every other word from her has been part of a pattern of confidence-building encouragement.  

   Of course, it takes more to become a good performer no matter what the area. But, in a tiny way doesn't Ms. Wood's guidance exemplify the best kind of teaching?

   How do you paint a a field with a thousand daisies? One way is to paint just three. How do you paint feeling? The same way. 

   Amid complexity, teach one simple bit of advice and surround your students with encouragement. 

   Isn't that what Jesus taught in just three words? "Love one another." Consider how much he taught us with one simple story, the one that describes "a certain Samaritan."

-Erie Chapman

Painting: Original artwork from the collection of Martha Chapman