Life, Like Golf, Is Just A Game….Isn’t It?

February 2007

Life, Like Golf, Is Just A Game . . . Isn’t It?

It has been said that most golfers approach the first tee box with three things; a commitment not to embarrass themselves, a judging spirit, and an attitude that is just one stroke away from being really, really angry.

Sounds frighteningly familiar doesn’t it? Many of us approach life in the same way. Some approach Sunday morning like that.

If that realization isn’t enough to keep you up at night, consider the fact that we spend the majority of our waking lives in one of three places mentally:

1. the future, a state wherein we’re thinking about what might happen at some upcoming point in time;
2. the past, a state of recall where we are thinking about what has happened; and
3. the present, simply being here, aware of what is happening now.

Two out of three happen inside our heads (future and past), and one happens in reality.

When you are in a conversation about the future, you’re never in this moment, this reality. When you’re in a conversation about the past, you’re not in this moment either. Being in reality – this moment – is where learning, growing, and changing takes place, where performance is effortless and enjoyment is natural. What amazes me is that we spend so little time actually in this moment.
Most of us approach life’s daily challenges trying to remember what we did so we can know what we should do (based on what we’ve done in the past), and then we go into a mode of anticipating or hoping about the future. Thus we never actually live in the present moment.

When we’re truly present, life’s decisions become a matter of awareness. Awareness of God’s plans and His desires because we experience the moment through surrendering to His will rather than rationalizing about it. It’s sort of like the difference between falling in love and reading a romance novel.

What a thought; to live in the present, making choices in the here and now, living life to the fullness of each breath as God intended? Isn’t that how we live?

Sadly, for most it is not. We are products of our cultures, and we respond according to the way in which we have been trained. And most of us, regardless of the number of years we have been in church, practice what we learned in a world that does not embrace God’s values, much less His ways. Jesus told us to first seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all that we need would be added unto us (Matt. 6:33).

How unnerving to those of us who exist on the control freak side of the line, because our comfort zones exist only in the context of that which we think we control. And from that control we think we can exercise a degree of certainty about our future. From this “certainty” (…our daily agendas, etc.) we derive a false sense of security and comfort.

I believe that most of us desire to live in the reality that Jesus speaks of, don’t you.

To live in that reality requires total surrender. Only by living the life of a slave to the will of Jesus can we know true life fulfillment and the Master’s pleasure.

I pray the Master of Peace, Jesus Christ; fill you anew with His gift of joy now and forever. God bless you in your pursuit of His purposes in your life.

Book Resource
“Hurt: Inside the World of Today’s Today’s Teenagers” by Chap Clark (http://www.bakeracademic.com) available at http://www.amazon.com
I was blessed to share breakfast with Brett Yohn, leader of campus ministries at the University of Nebraska recently, and he spoke of this book. I believe it to be worthy of your time.

Website to Check Out
http://quotations.about.com

Video Resource
“Instinct” starring Anthony Hopkins and Cuba Gooding, Jr. This movie deals with our passion for the illusion of control. 

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