“I shot an unbelievable 69!”
That would have been my response if
anyone had inquired about my last golfing venture. No lie.
I shot a 69.
Unfortunately, it was for 9 holes.
To be fair to myself, I don’t golf
very often. Maybe 5 times a year, if
that. I go with my Priest Support
Group. We’ve been together for over 25
years—meeting once a month—and when the weather is decent we play golf. I haven’t gotten any better over the years
although the 69 was pretty bad even for me.
Golf is a frustrating game. Sometimes I’ll hit a good shot, maybe even a
few in a row. And then I always think,
“I’m getting the hang of this”, only to duff the next few shots. It’s a pattern that repeats itself pretty
much every time I play. I have no idea
why I think I’ll do better next time, unless it’s because I’m a person of hope
(even pessimistic people have hope apparently).
But I never do seem to improve.
Of course, there’s an obvious solution
to my golfing woes: I could practice or play a lot more. However, I know that’s not going to
happen. If I was retired, maybe, or if I
developed a great passion for the sport, maybe, but I can’t or won’t spend the
extra hours in order to get better. (And
it would take lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of hours to get me to a
satisfactory better.) Hey, it’s OK. A little public humiliation can do wonders
for one’s humility.
In order to reach proficiency in
anything, one must be willing to spend the time and the energy (and maybe the
money) required for improvement. That’s
true of most every area of life (golf included). One may have natural ability in a particular
area, but without proper practice, without learning proper technique, potential
is never reached.
That’s also true in our lives as
Catholics. Living the Catholic life
requires that we put some time and energy forth (money is less important, since
one doesn’t need proper equipment or expensive lessons to live out our Catholic
identity). Our relationship with God
through Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit doesn’t automatically deepen as
time goes by. We have to “practice” by
taking time for prayer, by taking time to learn, and by responding to the needs
of others around us. In so doing, we
“get better” at living out what it means to be a Catholic.
I’m not saying that God demands or
even expects us to devote hours and hours of prayer and learning and practice every
week to living out our Catholic call.
But I am saying God expects some time on a regular basis. If we think about our week and the amount of
time we spend on various activities, where does prayer fall? Where does learning about God and the faith
fall? How about volunteer or outreach
efforts to others? Of course, we need to
work or go to school; we need to eat and sleep.
But how much time do we spend watching TV or sitting in front of the
computer or cleaning or giving our attention to music or engaged in a sporting
activity or spending leisure time with family or friends? Of course, none of that is necessarily
bad—but it’s not all good if it prevents us from deepening our life as
disciples of Jesus (by virtue of baptism we are all disciples).
I’m fairly certain that I’ll never put
in the time and energy required to be a decent golfer, but I always hope that
I’ll put in the time and energy required to be a decent disciple.
Have a blessed week . . .
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