John Wooden: How did he do it?

The late great basketball coach, John Wooden, and his UCLA dynasty won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years. During that stretch, his team won 88 straight games. However, Wooden is remembered today as a great man who was so much more than a success on the basketball court. He enriched thousands of lives through his teaching encouraging and the building of friendships.

How did he do it? How did he become so successful? Wooden credited much of his success to his wonderful parents, especially his father. One day Wooden's father gave him a card. On one side of the card was this verse by Henry Van Dyke:

Four things a man must learn to do

If he would make his life more true:

To think without confusion clearly,

To love his fellow-man sincerely,

To act from honest motives purely,

To trust in God and Heaven securely.

On the other side of the card, Wooden's father wrote his creed, "Seven Things To Do." It read:

1. Be true to yourself.

2. Help others.

3. Make each day your masterpiece.

4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.

5. Make friendship a fine art.

6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.

7. Pray for guidance and count and give thanks for your blessings every day.

Wooden declared that his father's creed "would shape my entire life."

It would do us all well to live out our creed and to "drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible." It also would do us good to pray and thank God for our blessings.

• Ken Haskins is pastor of First Christian Church in Carson City.