Golf and God

Many people know that I love to play the game of golf.  I have played this game since I was elementary school.  The quality of my game goes through a constant ebb and flow when it comes to my scoring average.  Much of this has to do with how much time I am able to play golf and more importantly how much time I can practice before ever getting on the course to play.  Regardless if you are playing the game with others, ultimately you are playing the game against yourself.

Golf is one of the most mental games of all.  If we have hit a great shot we say to ourselves, “why can’t I do that every time.”  Each swing of the club to hit the golf ball includes so many opportunities of the swing to go wrong.  Consider all that one must think about when hitting the ball: gripping the club, the backswing, the forward swing, keeping our left arm straight, the right cock of the writs, how well one’s hips swivel, the stance of our feet, our posture when swinging the club, where the ball is placed between our feet, the lie of the golf ball on the ground (flat surface, feet above the ball, feet below the ball, ball on a uphill slope, or ball on a downhill slope), weather conditions (wind, rain, sunny, cloudy), the slope and conditions of where we want the ball to land, and wondering if we chose the right club.

Golfers are crazy.  They play a game they will never truly win, but every once in a while something special happens.  We swing the club and everything goes exactly liked we hoped it would in terms of the best possible outcome.  I don’t remember the bad shots throughout my life, but I can remember vividly the best shots I have ever had playing Golf.  We remember those shots because there is this feeling that all is right with the world in that single moment.  One of my favorite memories of golf is when I played the Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland.  I was playing the par 5 fifth hole and had hit a great drive.  I hit my second shot to the green but was unsure of where it ended up on the rolling hills of the hole.  As we approached the green I discovered that my ball was only 6 inches from the hole.  I tapped in for an eagle (2 shots less that what is expected on the hole).  A man came over to me and said, “Enjoy the moment.  It does not get any better than that.”  We can hit countless of bad shots, and endure them, because we know there will come a time when we will hit a shot so good the game will beckon us back to the course again.  

The spiritual life is a lot like golf.  We can get all wrapped up in how we practice spirituality much like we can get overwhelmed with all that goes into swinging a golf club.  Am I praying right?  Do I read the Bible enough?  Does God think I am worthy?  Have I missed to many opportunities of caring for the “least of these”?  Do I attend thing enough at church?

We can get so wrapped up in the process of being with God that we simply forget to “be” with God.  Every once in a while we come across a moment in which there is this deep awareness that God’s presence is as close to us as the breath that enters and leaves our mouths.  We can cut the presence with a knife.  It is those moments that call us back to church, call us back to faith, call us back to be Jesus’ follower all over again.  I can spend my energy thinking of all the things I don’t do right, or I can remember those moments when I feel claimed and loved by God.  To  me, those are the moments we will never forget and will always shape our faith.

I guess that is why golfers return the course again, and why Christians continue to seek God’s presence.  Defining moments lead us forward into the next great adventure.

Grace and Peace,

Rev. Dr. Christopher Wilson