January 18-2019

WHY I PLAY GOLF

Living in Arizona I have had many opportunities to visit the Grand Canyon as well as Zion National Park and Bryce Canyon. All three provided me with a unique observation that I had failed to realize for the longest time. I began to realize that the jutting rock formations and protruding obelisks were rough and ragged in appearance. None of them had rectangular, squared off and highly polished, perfectly level tops like a fine piece of furniture created by humans. But these gifts of God's creation were declared “good” in God's sight.

So it began to make sense to me that I was attracted to the game of golf. Unlike a team sport played on a perfectly measured, highly polished floor or perfectly groomed grass field, when I play golf I am playing on turf that God designed, complete with uphills, downhills, small ponds, etc., the earth that God created. Also I can play against my own self-challenging me to play better than the time before.

Unlike some sport challenges, I am not playing against a clock but playing to finish the game in the best way I can, much like life. As I walk through my life, I have good shots and bad shots, trying to improve on the less spectacular shots I made and hopefully learned from them.

So as I reflect on the jutting rock formations of nature, it occurred to me that perhaps, in God's sight, we are perfect in our imperfections. This makes sense since it is through these imperfections that we are drawn to God for support, comfort, guidance and healing. They act like magnets to draw us to the place of dependence on the one true Power that can rescue us in our trials and challenges. I praise God for the “magnets” of our imperfections.