How are we reading the Bible and life?

Like life, things aren’t always as they seem.  And as in life, how we learn to read this “sacred” book does make a difference. 

We are about to embark upon a “serious” Bible study at OSL (Sunday evenings, 6-8:30 p.m.) covering two Old Testament books (Genesis and Exodus) and two from the New (Matthew and Acts).  I expect some lively discussion when it comes to some long-entrenched biblical presuppositions that have resulted in a situation still being played out today between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  Try some of these familiar themes:

• God has chosen special chosen individuals to bless, protect and work through. (Seth, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses)
• God “judges” people with calamities. (exile from the garden, blindness, the flood,  negative generation to generation consequences (Cain, Ham, Ishmael) leprosy, famine, slavery, plagues)
• God’s law is final. (eye for eye/tooth for tooth, obedient are blessed, disobedient are cursed)
• Normal relationship with God is through ritual worship (holy separation is breached only through priests and proscribed sacrifices).

The conversation on these familiar (and frankly, dangerous) themes is a brisk one as Jesus embraces the broader tradition of the Old Testament (including writings throughout all of the Old Testament) and comes out with powerful questions. Are God’s blessings confined to a select family line?  Who are the children of God … those God loves?  What is to be our attitude towards enemies?  How are we to understand calamities?  Do bad things happen to good people, too?  What is the purpose of God’s law?  Where does real worship take place?  As we read the Bible we are invited by Jesus to think and not be led astray by those who would seize particular stories or ideas and bring life into harm’s way. 

This is serious business, religion.  Attitudes towards others make a difference in how we relate to one another.  The lead article of the Times News today (Monday, August 21, 2006) addresses the concern of Hispanics who feel the negative weight of prejudice.  But this is just one example of what we see going on throughout the world between people of different races living in proximity with one another.  And we know that religion gets right in the mix of things when people justify their status because of their connection with God: Yahweh, Allah, various deities or even one’s particular understanding of Jesus.

I remember the words of the Dalai Lama who spoke to all of us up in Sun Valley not too long ago.  He encouraged us to first learn, then listen … and finally respond with kindness as we connect with others whoever or wherever they may be.  And then I think of Jesus who invited us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute … Jesus, our Lord, who taught us to love one another as he loved us … sacrificially, even unto death.  Instructive? Sobering?  Inspiring?  I surely hope so!

As we read the Bible, like we read life, we need to use our God-given brains… and hearts.  Jesus did and it got him into some pretty interesting discussions with the religious people of his day who embraced dangerous presuppositions and prejudice tainting their attitudes towards others.  “Go learn what this means,” Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”

Through what lens are we reading our world … and the Bible?  Thank God for Jesus. He really irritates, sobers and inspires.  And I think it’s high time we need all three.

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Reflections on Golf and Life

You knew it was coming.  I just couldn’t resist.  So here are some of my reflections.  I invite you to add your own.

• Like life, it’s not fair.  Your ball can hit a sprinkler head, a muddy spot, a direction marker or a hidden rock and plug or bounce crazily … even out of bounds.  It’s not your fault … though you did hit it there.  It happens.
• Conditions change.  Great fairway grass and weedy grass, aerated and fertilized fairways and greens, hail and frost, dew and dryness, lightening fast greens and shaggy ones, bird droppings, flying and crawling insects, dusty or rainy, hot and dry, windy and cool, sunny and cloudy, foggy or … or … well, just imagine and then keep adding.  It’ll change.
• Others’ actions or behavior will be affecting your game. Your ball can land in someone’s un-repaired divot or your put can deviate because someone scuffed the green ahead of you … out of anger or disgust.  Your golfing partners may be noisy or into playing with your head.  People will affect your game to some degree ... against your will, too.  Deal with it.
• Like in prayer, you must keep your head down and be still.  Moving one’s head is like moving the weight of a bowling ball.  It affects how you hit the ball and your alignment on every shot … every one …especially putting.  Keep still.  Boy is that a hard one to learn - again and again.
• Many golfers hate themselves or their mistakes.  This is the easiest part of the game.  But as the mistakes become more pronounced, you will be forced to cope in one way or another.  Or quit.   
• What you focus on is often where your ball will go … especially the water, sand or rough … ironically, where you are concentrating on not going!  You must concentrate on where you are going.  Only that.  Optimism means having a positive goal.  
• Good golfers are optimists.  Think about that!  This is well worth a line of its own.  At least.
• You must forgive yourself entirely and learn from your mistakes with as much truthfulness and kindness as possible!  Becoming truly kind is the balanced mark of maturity.
• Feeling confident is crucial to controlling accuracy.  Though mechanics are important, you must learn to feel every shot to the hole.  Tiger pictures it.  Golf requires imagination.
• You will get out of rhythm at times and not know why … or how to get it back.  You may need others to see what you’re doing wrong.  Or, you might “get it back” and not know how that happened either.  It’s called “golf” and weird as life.
• Yet things DO make sense.  There is a reason that ball goes where it does even if that reason is impacted by wind, wet, grass types, temperature, club type, impact speed and angle of the club.  It all makes sense if you could only know it all.  And no one does.  Golf is a humbling sport.  And Tiger would agree.
• Anyone can get a good shot and every good shot should be appreciated. If you celebrate everything you can, you’ll be appreciated by other golfers, too.  And that’s good golf already!
• Perfection is the goal, never reality.  Lighten up.  Life with grace!
• Counting every stroke, even when you miss the ball, is your score no matter what you write down.  And being honest is catchy … especially when you can laugh at yourself.
• Playing the ball where it lies (within the rules) is the standard.  Don’t we hate the law except when it applies to those we’re playing against?  
• Yes, cheating in golf is nothing different than cheating in anything else … something we do when we want to look better than we really are.  Welcome to temptation.  And golf’s full of it.  
• Observers distract more than anything else.  They must be put in their place … somewhere else.

• Skill matters … especially when the ball lands in the rough, thick grass, wet or fluffy sand, trees, bushes, hard ground.  Patiently, intelligently and diligently working on the weakest parts of the game is essential … and something that defines most of us as amateurs.  We don’t.
• Driving a long ways may be impressive but it has more to do with timing than strength.  Only clubhead speed and where the ball strikes the clubface determine distance.  All can enjoy golf.
• A good drive is like receiving a nice container in which to put something precious … namely the approach and the putt!  And if you don’t think so, three putts teach well.
• Getting out of the rough is rough and can cause real injury.  Don’t go into the rough.  Plan not to. Yet, even learning the hard way won’t always keep us out of it.  Sorry.  Life’s rough.
• For most golfers, it’s usually wiser to get out of rough the easiest way (even going backwards) than to push your luck by going for a narrow opening.  Learn to take the loss of one stroke and keep from losing two … or more.  
• Really good golfers got good over much time and practice.  Much.  Be reasonable and nice to yourself knowing this.  It is a hard game to score well … and it’s always nice to be reasonable.
• Putting requires walking around and looking at all the angles.   Good putts are not rushed.  Being consistent means paying attention to feet, position of hands, angle of the club, take away, head alignment and never looking at where you hit the putt until the ball is long on its way.  Precision requires careful planning and execution.  All that … whew!
• So much of golf has to do with rhythm, timing and consistency.  It could even be boring, like life.
• The beauty of a golf course is all around you.  It is the one thing you don’t have to work to enjoy.
• Finally: You’re going to hate golf if you choose to.  There are many reasons to assist you.  You’re going to love golf if you choose to.  There are many reasons for that, too. 
• It’s all up to you.

Lord have mercy!  Enjoy!  J