Golf

Don't let anyone tell you that they play the game of golf because they love it.  This is a game, that even the most proficient, find exasperating.  Only a few among the millions of its advocates consistently meet standard of basic expectation..."par".  The vast majority will spend hours upon hours, dollar upon dollar, swinging away at a 1.680" diameter ball, in some of the most beautiful settings on earth.  Their motivations may be many but it can't be because they love the game.  This game wasn't designed to be loved, but endured!

Don't confuse my rant with bitterness at my own frustration over the years playing golf.  My golf angst is based on sound theology.   Golf, by design, is a "presbyterian game", an opinion I hold with all due respect and affection for brothers and sisters of that persuasion.   Its not a bad thing that it is a "presbyterian game", on the contrary it may be the best and only way to actually play this game.

The modern game of golf originated in Scotland long before the Protestant Reformation introduced Calvinism into the Christian mix.   The first written reference to "golf" as we have come to know it was Scottish King James II's ban of the game in 1457, as an unwelcome distraction to learning archery. The game fits perfectly with the radical concepts of "predestination" introduced into the Scottish Reformation by the eloquent revolutionary John Knox (1514-1572).   After a short lived banishment to Geneva, Switzerland due to his fervent nationalism and violent opposition to the Roman Catholic church, Knox assimilated John Calvin's insistence that each and every moment in a person's life, even their own religious commitment, is pre-ordained by an omnipotent Divinity.   Such faith requires the adherent to live out those moments in obedience and contrition to an all-controlling God.   There is no record of Knox playing golf but its not hard to imagine that his disciples did with joy and abandon upon learning that each and every swing in golf, from solid hit to muff was pre-ordained by God Almighty.  

For disciples of the Methodist Reformers, John and Charles Wesley (1703-1791/1707-1788), such as myself, who emphasized "free will", golf is nothing but one temptation after another.   Rather than an all-controlling God, "free will" assumes a God that influences, powerfully to be sure, but ultimately leaves each and every moment to the choices of God's creatures.   Thus a good golf drive can become a moment of self-aggrandizement or a bad one the occasion for self-loathing.  The "free will" advocate who takes up golf will find his- or her-self constantly looking up to heaven imploring God's intervention or worse, staring down below...at one's feet....wondering if the devil is making them play this bewildering game.

No, golf is best played by "presbyterians", not by denomination but mindset.  There is freedom to enjoy golf only when you can rest assured that each and every missed shot, shank, hook, duff, bunker muff and lipped cup is God's will.   For "methodists", not by denomination but those who carry the "free will" mindset, the game will drive you crazy!

It makes complete sense, at least to me, that not only was Scotland the home base for the Presbyterian evangelization of the world but along with it came golf, now a global sport.

I was reminded of these truths while taking my father out to play nine holes with my son, and his grandson, for my Dad's Christmas present this year.   My Dad loves the game and has played it with devotion for years.   He has been joined by a circle of buddies that share the same passion...for the jokes, the camaraderie, the silly bets, the pitcher of beer after the game as the occasion for story telling and the male version of love.  They endure the game each week but they wouldn't miss the friendship.  Over the years as they have succumbed to illness, divorce or death this circle has stood by each other for support and comfort, welcoming new members along the way.

Today my Dad is thin and frail.  Its a huge physical effort for him to play nine holes.  He can whack the ball about 30 yards at a time.  Getting the ball out of the cup after a putt takes quite an effort.   But he loves to be out there.  We are convinced that such exercise has helped keep him as healthy and alert as he is at age 86, which is a real blessing.

My Dad doesn't keep score anymore; that's the 'presbyterian' side of him.  But he does mutter frustrations that involved God's name when he muffs it, that's the 'methodist' side of him.

But as my son and I watched him and his golfing buddy laugh, cajole and tease each other over their game and 43 year history of friendship, we could both see why folks play this stupid game.  And it isn't because they love it.  It's because they love each other.

No Cause for Rejoicing

During the traditional Jewish Seder meal, often called the Passover, participants recite variations of a formal litany called the Haggadah.  The Haggadah tells the story of God's intervention on behalf of the Hebrew people during their period of slavery in Egypt.  God hears the cry of the people, sends Moses and Aaron to lead them out of Pharaoh's bondage to freedom and begin the journey towards their own Promised Land (Exodus 3:1-f).  It is the Hebrew peoples' story of salvation; historical and spiritual.  It is a ritual repeated each year as the Jewish people remember who they are and Whose they are.

During the Haggadah, the Ten Plagues are recited and remembered.  These were the ten miraculous acts of confrontation meant to force the Pharaoh to "let God's people go!"  The tenth plague was the 'passover' of the angel of death who killed all the first born males of Egypt, the final act which forced the hand of the Egyptian king and began the Hebrew journey to freedom.

As the Ten Plagues are recited, each participant removes a drop of wine from his or her glass with a finger tip, making it less than full.   The Sages had long taught that one cannot be completely joyous, even for salvation from tyranny, when it comes at the expense of suffering by another of God's creatures.

Its not hard to imagine Jesus of Nazareth and his friends doing this same ritual two thousand years ago as they gathered for what Christians call The Last Supper, which was their last Passover meal together.   Well versed in the Hebrew scriptures, he knew the intent of Proverbs 24:17 "Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble..."   After all it was this carpenter who by inverting the ancient law fulfilled it, "You have heard that it was said,'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy'.  But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..." (Matthew 5:43-44)

The assassination of Osama bin Laden ended the life of a mass murderer.  That's a good thing.   But it is not the occasion for rejoicing.

It is the occasion to thank the men and women of our military and intelligence forces who stand between us and those who would do us harm.   To do nothing to stop terrorist extremists would make us complicit in their mindless violence.  Those who take up arms to defend and protect, often with great sacrifice to themselves and their families, deserve our support and deepest respect.

It is the occasion to remember the thousands of survivors of 9/11 who have had to learn to live without those they loved who were killed on that tragic day and/or who by their own sacrifices in response have had to deal with life changing illnesses.

It is the occasion to reflect on the tens of thousands of non-combatants who have died in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan in our response to the war on terror and the toll it has taken on their families and friends.

It is the occasion to mourn that a world so full of resource and beauty has yet to find a way to settle its differences without violence.  

But this is not the time to rejoice at the death of a man, even one so brutal as Osama bin Laden.

On the internet response to these events, all sorts of comments have been shared.  From the surviving spouse of the victim of murder in a workplace shooting, we are reminded of these words:

"I mourn the death of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even if my enemy.  Returning hate for hate, only multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that..."   Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I choose to rejoice in the conviction of such a person, who deserving of hatred and revenge refuses such darkness.  In such conviction lies the hope of the world, not the elimination of any one evil man.