The odometer on the dashboard of my life recently turned sixty-three. This is a measurement, not of miles but of consecutive, twelve-month segments. Nevertheless, the body of your roadster has already begun to oxidize which is evidenced by the rust of life that has turned your hair follicles white or even loose. You don’t think as quickly as you once did and you now easily and frustratingly forget words and names that were once, well, unforgettable. Regardless of how warm the morning temperature may be, you find that it takes longer for your engine to turn over and your transmission to smoothly glide you down the road than it used to. And at some point “back yonder” you discovered that you had finally crossed over into the twilight zone where there are more years behind you than ahead of you. But if you chose to live by the predominant mantra of this world then you have long since bought into a philosophy of life espoused by our culture that is revealed in the YOLO acronym: You Only Live Once. As Jim Denison says, “We live for the present, trying to enjoy as much as we can while we can. We mortgage the future in favor of the pleasures of the present.”
But God calls us to a more patient, adaptive attitude that is biblically balanced and infused with wisdom from Scripture. It's not that the Bible discourages us from living in the present (what other choice do we have?), but it does temper that “grab all the gusto you can” nonsense with a long-term view. This is why Psalm 90:12 calls us "to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Having spent many hours watching the U.S. Open (it’s a very tough golf tournament – a lot like life itself), I think I uncovered some lessons as the best of the best battled to win the coveted trophy that most tour pros will never own. This year’s tournament was played at a seemingly impossible course named Chamber's Bay. Dr. Denison is correct when he says that, “The nature of the course means that more than likely every player will have at least one or two bad holes per round. When the ball goes deep into the wild grass, or finds itself in another bunker, it's easy for the player to get lost in the frustration of the moment and forget about the rest of the round. Similarly, you and I can get so focused on the difficult patches of life that we lose sight of everything else. Gratitude is one of the most frequent admonitions in the Pauline epistles, and for good measure. If you were to find yourself playing Chamber's Bay, it would be so easy to get so focused on the gnarled, wild grass where your ball just landed, that you'd miss the spectacular view of Puget Sound right in front of you.”
Maybe this is why I’ve chosen to play a little more golf than I used to – it reminds me of the past sixty-three years and might well be a bit of a roadmap for the years that are left. You know what I mean especially if you’ve ever tried to play the game; the sand traps, golf balls that are gone forever, the terrible short shots, embarrassing putts and the errant drives of life that the Lord brings into our life to remind us to walk on the knees of dependent prayer. Much of the round is filled with ups and downs but sometimes there’s a surprise and a flourish of joy as the ball unexpectedly drops into the bottom of the cup. And when you’re done enjoying a great meal and something cold to drink with a beautiful sunset to savor, you find yourself looking to the heavens and thinking, “Thank you Lord for life and walking with me through it. You are so faithful and your goodness is past finding out and I am blessed and so very thankful.” So join me in praising our good God from whom all blessings flow.