A ROUND OF GOLF

Vintage Tom Watson and Larry Davis, Kansas City, MO

“A round of golf partakes of the journey, and the journey is one of the central myths and signs of Western Man. It is built into his thoughts and dreams, into his genetic code. The Exodus, the Ascension, the Odyssey, the Crusades, the pilgrimages of Europe and Voyage of Columbus, Magellan’s Circumnavigation of the Globe, the Discovery of Evolution and the March of Time, getting ahead and the ladder of perfection, the exploration of space and the Inner Trips: from the beginning our Western World has been on the move. We tend to see everything as part of the journey… So…enjoy what is while seeking our treasure of tomorrow. And—you might have guessed it—a round of golf is good for that, because if it is a journey, it is also a round: it always leads back to the place you started from…golf is always a trip back to the first tee, the more you play the more you realize you are staying where you are. By playing golf, you reenact that secret of the journey. You may even get to enjoy it.”

 --Michael Murphy, Golf in the Kingdom 

 The dance would seem to be an eternal round, with all creation joined in a circular dance of life. These circle or round dances have endured through the ages as spontaneous or choreographed joyful social activities. Once we begin to learn the rhythms of life, the steps in our spiritual journey begin to fit each measure of music and understanding of God’s word. Our lives revolve around circles and even though we live in a broken world, the circles never break. Many of our circles seem to be spinning faster and faster, like a marathon merry-go-round ride with only one rule; nobody gets off as long as you’re in the dance. The days progress from sunrise to sunset to moonrise to moonset, as we spin around on our planet. And we add one more candle to our birthday cake as the planet circles the sun one more time.