The Bungee Cord 6-6-22

Hello,

I went golfing yesterday, not for the first time this year, but for the first time in several years I kept score. For me, golf is far more exercise than sport. I usually play nine holes, but I always walk and carry my clubs. I take them with me to tees that are set back and I carry them as I am looking for a ball (which is all too often). I figure that if I don’t play well, at least I got some good exercise.

Well, yesterday I did not play very well. I shot a 57 for 9 holes (par is 36). Lots of room for improvement this summer. I had my share of good shots: decent drives down the middle, a good 4 iron shot to the green that stayed on the , green, several longer puts that were very close enabling me to two put. But there were two holes which were an accumulation of terrible shots. Several consecutive duffs, chip shots that flew over the green, short puts that I missed – five over par on each of those holes. So, combining a lot of bogies, double bogies, and two quintuple bogies, I arrived at a score of 57.

Years ago, I was a low to mid-40’s golfer, so my hope is to return to that level of play. But having said that, I don’t want my desire to decrease my score to create such aggravation and frustration that I lose the reason that I play golf in the first play, to have some relaxing enjoyment. It is for that very reason that I have not kept score for quite a while.

Keeping score. It is not only something that golfers do. As a matter of fact it is what the world does to you and me every day. The world is always scoring us on how well we are living our lives. Are we up to par with our jobs? Are we solid spouses, parents, children? Are we keeping ourselves healthy and in shape? Are we playing with the best clubs (house, car, vacation, clothes)? Do we hold up under pressure and make those hard puts in life? Often when I finish a round of life and look at my scorecard, it is a 57 or worse.

Thing with life, unlike golf, you can’t not keep score. Sure you can try to ignore the score that the world is keeping on you, but the world keeps on posting its score in your face. So, I find myself in life, just as in golf, seeking to lower my score to something nearer to par. Improve at my job, be aware of my flaws and work on them, take care of the things that I possess, and focus harder under pressure. It is all good, and it is all worth doing. But I don’t want to lose the reason that I get out of bed everyday: to live in thankfulness each and every day that God gives me.

So, as the world puts its scorecard in front of my face, I see these words from the Bible inserted in front of the world’s tally, “ I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6) I have a great life coach! A coach that knows the game of life better than any other. A coach that has mastered the hardest shots of life. A coach that, no matter how bad I am, will not give up on me. So, when I miss a put under pressure, my coach will give me calm to try again. When I slice or hook in my relationships, my coach will show me why I mis-hit and adjust my grip and say, “Try again.” When I “peek” and really duff a shot, a shot to help my neighbor who is in need, my coach will remind me to keep my head down on my neighbor’s need. And when I worm-burn a shot, my coach will say, “Relax, you’re swinging (trying) too hard.”

In my attempt to be a par shooter in life, something that I know I nor anyone else will ever do, I am placing my trust in my coach who has said, “I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.” And when that age end happens and I find myself standing in front of my coach, I know that I will hear my coach say, “Welcome to the clubhouse, par shooter.” And I will say back, but you know that I never shot par.” And he’ll say back to me, “But I shot par on the cross and the Easter tomb, and I am giving you my score.”

Fore!

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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