Spiritual Mulligans
Golfers throughout the nation should have rejoiced on October 17th. It was National Mulligan Day. A “mulligan” in golf refers to a "do-over," a “correction shot,” a second try after your first has gone awry. It is said that David Bernard Mulligan (1869-1954), a Canadian golfer, invented it out of frustration over a very bad tee shot. One time, to the surprise of the others in his group, after the bad first shot, he put another ball on the tee and hit a second shot. His bewildered companions demanded to know what he was doing. He replied that he was taking a correction shot called a “mulligan.” Thus, the "mulligan" was born. “Taking a mulligan” somehow caught on and, even though it is illegal in regulation play, a mulligan today is a favorite redeeming tactic of nearly every golfer during friendly, unofficial play. It’s a do-over. A correction shot. A second try after your first has gone awry. What a great concept!
When you think about it, the concept of “taking a mulligan” is at the heart of divine redemption. Alma and the sons of Mosiah are great examples.
In the Book of Mormon, we learn that Alma the Younger was an extremely wicked son of a prophet. His close buddies, the sons of Mosiah, were extremely wicked sons of a righteous king. Despite what they had been taught by their fathers, the boys led evil lives and went around together trying to destroy the Church. But after being shaken to the ground and chastised by an angel, they took mulligans—"spiritual mulligans.” They reset their lives and took a second try, becoming some of the strongest missionaries and disciples of Christ ever recorded in scriptures.
The apostle Peter is another example. When armed Jewish temple guards arrested the Savior and took him into custody, Peter feared greatly for his own life. Before the night was over, Peter, one of the Lord’s closest companions, denied knowing Jesus three times. The rooster’s crow in the morning brought him shame that surged to the very marrow of his bones. He wept bitterly. But the same type of shame that led the apostle Judas to commit suicide caused Peter to take a spiritual mulligan, reset, and try again. With forgiveness and strength from the resurrected Lord, Peter went forward to fearlessly and boldly lead the Lord’s Church for decades thereafter.
The equivalent of a mulligan in gospel terms is repentance. Repentance is when a person turns away from evil and redirects his heart to God. And with God’s help, that person is able to try again and do better. I promise that God loves our spiritual mulligans and He will help us no matter how hard our do-overs may need to be.
The scriptures remind us, “The Lord is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18).
“Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more” (D&C 58:42).
In the Church’s general conference of April 2012 (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2012/04/the-laborers-in-the-vineyard?lang=eng), our modern apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, reassured us of the truth of spiritual mulligans. He promised, “However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made … or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible,” declared Elder Holland, “for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.”
So, when you need a second try, a do-over, confess to Heavenly Father in your heartfelt prayers that you need His help to take a spiritual mulligan. If you need the bishop’s help with a “correction shot,” reveal to him you want to take a spiritual mulligan.
I’m very grateful for spiritual mulligans. I personally know their goodness and power. With the Lord’s help, you and I can make every day a spiritual National Mulligan Day—days, when needed, for a do-over, a second try after our first has gone awry. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Message given by Jim Hartley, Elders Quorum president, in the Hidden Village Ward Council, October 18, 2020
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