There’s a very good movie by the title of, “Bagger Vance” in which a character by the name of ‘Rannulph Junuh,’ (played by Matt Damon) departs his hometown of Savannah, Georgia, and goes off to war (WWI). As an army officer he leads his infantry company into a desperate and ill-fated attack against a superior German force, and as it falls together, he alone escapes with his life; winning the Congressional Medal of Honor, but returning home defeated, and a shadow of his former self.
And it so happens that before the war Junuh was an up and coming golfer and had won a prestigious amateur tournament. After he returns, Savannah civic leaders solicit him to represent the city in a match featuring (the real life) pros Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. Meanwhile, a member of the angelic host appears in the form of ‘Bagger Vance,’ (portrayed by Will Smith) in what turns out to be his successful attempt to repair the broken morale of a good man.
After the match is well underway, and with Rannulph falling further and further behind, he slams the ball into the rough; at which point he and Bagger track it down. As the duo talk about which club to use to return the ball to its place of origin, and our hero expresses doubt about his possibilities, (not limited to the game of golf) Bagger encourages him that all is not lost.
During this little interlude Junuh finds himself alone in the same forest in which he fought, and in which hundreds of his men breathed their last. And as he gazes towards the field of play, it is as if he is looking into the same rectangular opening in the trees that he saw on the field of battle; (and by which he secured his escape).
With this, Junuh places the ball on the tee, draws back and drives it with all his might towards the goal; with it landing exactly where he could only have hoped it would. As the pair walk back towards the other two golfers, and the assembled throng surrounding them, the very relieved Rannulph exclaims,
“Bagger, you’re one h_ _ _ of a caddy.”
To which his golf angel responds,
“Well, thank ya, sur.”
And need I mention,
the battle-beaten, insecure (former) shell of a man overcomes all the obstacles set in his pathway, and
…wins the match;
and ultimately, (we like to think) the match called ‘Life.’
And all the foregoing to say, I witnessed one of those rectangular doorways today.
To which you might too casually respond,
“Well, so what? I not only see them, but walk through them on a daily basis.”
To which I might just as casually respond,
“Good point. But the rectangular doorway to which I am referring is easily as ethereal as the one to which I alluded in my story.”
For you see, as I left the post office this afternoon, and aimed my 2015 silver Nissan Altima in the direction of the grocery store, I noticed one of the most unusual cloud formations I’d ever seen.“Right there in front of God and everybody,” it hovered before me.
A Rectangular Doorway
…in the sky.
And it seemed to be the exact shape of that entrance, (or exit, depending on your perspective) depicted in the movie.
A cloud to the left. A cloud to the right. A cloud below. A cloud above. And in between the four nebulous formations of water vapor,
…a blue, rectangular hole in the sky.
You know, God has always made a door available to those who have chosen Him to be their Saviour. The door among all doors had to be when He opened up the Red Sea, and the Jews of Egypt walked across on dry land. And who can forget Daniel in the Lion’s Den, and his having walked out of that dank, dark fearsome place unscathed? We have Jonah and the great fish, and his deliverance from a very unpleasant digestive process. And Peter (who very much like Bagger Vance) received his own personal angel, and was rescued from almost certain death.
And as with literal doorways, they may be used to both go out and come in. Just as our Lord provides figurative exits for His children, He oft times provides entrances which represent changes in our personal dispensation, or merely tweaks in the mission He planned for us; before He made the worlds.
A brief investigation into the lives of such biblical stalwarts as Joseph, David and Jesus speaks to this variable. The Joseph of the dungeon and the Joseph of the palace. The David of the pasture and the David of the throne room. The Jesus of the stable, cross and tomb, and the Christ Who has re-assumed His place at the right hand of His Father in heaven.
The Providential leading (and oft times) deliverance, of the Almighty, the God of all creation, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, the Lord of lords, and King of kings, the Great ‘I AM.’ The very Saviour of the world.
It has been true in my life. And, no doubt, it has been true in many of your own.
For has He not promised,
“Your times are in My hands.” (Psalm 31:15)
(and)
“The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me.” (Psalms 138:8)
(and)
"He who has begun a good work in you will continue to perform it until the day of Christ." (Phil. 1:6)
(and)
“Faithful is He who has called you, and He will also do it.” (1st Thessalonians 5:24)
I witnessed a most unusual formation in the sky today. And who can say whether anyone else saw it, or whether it was tailor-made for me? Was it as singular and personalized as the rectangular exit (or entrance), as the one characterized on ‘Bagger Vance,’ or as corporate to God’s people, as the salvation which Christ won for mankind on the cross?
I must leave that story for another day.
…To be continued
By William McDonald, PhD. From (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 43. Copyright pending
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