Winning by doing our best

Dec. 4, 2008

Dear Julie,

Today is "Blanchard Reads" day at Blanchard Elementary School. Various people in the community are invited into classrooms to discuss a book the whole school has read. The last time I took part in the event, the students asked me about everything but the book. They already had the book figured out. They wanted to know if I made sense.

This year's book is "Champ," a story about a three-legged dog and an unathletic boy who grew to understand that the only failure is in not trying, that winning is giving your best.

Everyone even slightly interested in becoming a better golfer has heard or read that one of the secrets is to visualize the shot before making it. Most fine golfers rehearse each shot in their mind first. And yet golfers admit they don't visualize their shots for fear the shot won't match the vision. That feels like failure to them.

We think not trying absolves us of failure. It only guarantees failure.

I hope the students draw meaning from the book. They are growing up in a world that might not seem to make sense, with six major wars and nearly 20 conflicts in the world, with ice caps melting and economies crumbling, with terrorists invading hotels.

Before leaving for India last spring I was told that travelers have two choices of hotels: Palaces or dumps. The hotel in between, the Indian version of the Holiday Inn, doesn't exist. I chose palaces.

In truth, some of the palaces had faded with the British Empire and others were regal only in comparison to the squalor often nearby.

The Taj Mahal Palace hotel in Delhi's Diplomatic Enclave was one of the exceptions. A grand staircase and marbled lobby gleamed with opulence. The restaurants were remarkable. Two concierges were stationed on every floor. The rooms were comfortable, spacious and modern. The staff seemed to anticipate whatever guests might need.

The guests were a mixture of Western tourists, business travelers from everywhere and Indians. One night the grounds were decorated for a wedding. The hotel bubbled with life. The same life in the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai.

A banned Pakistani terrorist group called Lashkar-e-Taiba is suspected of attacking the hotel and killing so many. The name translates to Army of the Pure or Army of the Righteous. Take your pick.

Right now anyone planning a trip to India is thinking it over. That is how terror works. It presumes fear and hatred can win. Muhammad, Jesus, Moses, Buddha and the Vedas said they can't.

Right now we could throw up our hands at ever making sense of the world. That's just the way it is, we could say. Or we can turn these obstacles before us into opportunities to grow as a civilization and for all of us to learn to care for each of God's children. Like a three-legged dog and a boy who can't hit a baseball, we can do our best. Then we win.

Love, Sam

Sam Blackwell is a former reporter for the Southeast Missourian.