The Godly Golf Guru

Yea, I hit golf balls around 7:00 tonight. I melted more than the Wicked Witch in OZ. It was my first post-hip-surgery effort to hit balls outside on natural grass (I had hit a few times in doors at a local indoor golf simulation training facility - much cooler). Yes, you did read right when I said post-op. I had surgery on my right hip on April 24 for something called “femoroacetabular impingement”, or something like that. You can look it up, but I will say it’s not a hip replacement, just a bone that had formed the wrong way and caused some problems in my hip. A few months removed from surgery and still recovering with psychical therapy, I attempted to hit some balls outside…and failed. I had no expectations, so at least I had that going for me. I have a long way to go, but I just have to re-learn my swing, because I have the capability and flexibility now that I’ve never had before. So I am optimistic. I am going to just keep praying for recovery and the ability to get my swing back, for as the Holy Father has said, “Let’s not shackle the Holy Spirit, so that He can make of us works of art!” (thank you to my sister, Kristin, for the quote). Back to the golf, it was HOT. Actually it’s not just the heat, because it gets hot in California or Colorado, but it’s the humidity we are so blessed with here in Memphis. As long as I stay hydrated, it’s possible with some getting used to - I’ll just make sure I have an extra glove…and shirt…maybe some extra spikes…extra clubs for when they slip out of my hand and go flying aimlessly onto the range…pine tar…40 box fans…Big League Chew…smelling salt for heat stroke…127 towels…Lou Diamond Phillips…magnifying glass for ants trying to get into Big League Chew…swimsuit…the list could go on, but why?

Peace

We live in a cynical world with completely self-absorbed people who will do almost anything to “fill the void” in their life. I fall victim to this cliche at times, too. I think we all do at some time or another. We all have the capacity to do evil, and we all have the capacity for good. What was the famous quote? “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph in this world is for good men to do nothing” ? Forgive me if I misquoted, but I think about this quote a lot. I often think about quotes, and this one seems timely as I think about self-absorbed people who seem so miserable. They have no peace of mind. It’s a terrible thing to live with no peace or to live in fear of something. I think we all have good in us, and we need to stop making excuses for why we don’t use it. Maybe we’re afraid to lose what makes us “special” as people cling to the attention that is received with self-pity and pity from others. I think being angry, rebellious, depressed or whatever you want to call it, doesn’t make anybody special or attention-worthy, it just makes them miserable. Life is hard enough, why add to the tragedy? The only thing that’s going to fill the void is something REAL, an acknowledgment that there are things bigger than ourselves out there. The answer is easy - GOD. Half the World won’t admit it, because half the World simply does not want to DEAL WITH THIER WICKEDNESS. It’s the oldest trick in the freakin book: “Man, I have to feel guilty about doing terrible things? Well, if I just don’t believe that what I’m doing is terrible, or what I’m doing has any consequences, then, hey, I feel no guilt!!” WRONG. I learned a long time ago that we don’t get to decide what is right or wrong, for truth is not relative. People can think all they want that certain things are ok, but that in no way changes truth. The opposite of peace of mind is a guilty conscience. I believe there are people who have so screwed up their morals that they do not feel guilty about what they do anymore, so they may think they have peace of mind, but I assure you they are the emptiest of all. True happiness comes from self-realization, faith in Salvation, and living a purpose-driven life of meaning. Without these things, what else do we have? Wether you believe in life after death or not, either way we can take NOTHING with us when we die. The only thing we have are people, souls, relationships. Time out for an honesty-check. I (the person writing this) have a lot of cool “things”, I don’t worry about money, and I have had some terrible family experiences. I tell you this to put things in perspective. Everyone has their own sad story. everyone goes through pain and hardship - this doesn’t excuse anything. All we can do is use the pain to make things better. If not then we, as the quote says, are letting evil triumph. We know who wins the battle in the end. I want to be there in the end. I want to be on the winning side. I want to bear witness to the end of evil, because that SOB has done enough to my family and me.

I watched the ESPYs Sunday night, and I was quite pleased. I’m not a big fan of Justin Timberlake, but I must say, he was pretty funny. He poked fun at Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson which I always enjoy. The show was good, especially when Will Ferrell accepted Tiger Wood’s award for Best Male Athlete. I laughed. Out loud. A lot. Anyways, in my last post I mentioned my admiration for Favre. I won’t delve very much into the subject, because if you follow sports, you’re probably sick of Favre-Gate. All I’ll say is that I think it’s a mess, but in the end - ok I have no idea how this will end, I’ll wait and see. Ha. Favre is a Catholic at least:

http://www.catholic.org/hf/faith/story.php?id=25755

So I’m writing this blog on my computer (MAC) using my wireless router (Airport Express). I tell you this because it has taken me SO MUCH time to get this all working. Yes, it’s supposed to be easy, and I’ve actually talked to Apple Care (customer service) twice! My cable-given modem was making it quite difficult for communication with my Airport Express. But I persevered and finally got it all working, including my printer, which I can now print with wirelessly. Pretty sweet stuff.

Peace be with you

If there’s one thing I love more than golf it’s football! I am so amped up for football I can barely contain myself. No really. I’m about to go pre-order Madden ‘09, get the special addition with Madden ‘89 and some other goodies, pre-order NCAA ‘09, do a practice fantasy draft online for the upcoming fantasy football season, paint black under my eyes, buy football pads, and go play football! OK, maybe I took it too far. I haven’t be able to play golf this year, save for a few times, because of a hip problem I’ve had (probably from too much football!). I’m recovering from surgery, but that’s another story. For now just know that I have played golf maybe 5 times this year! 5 times! I feel amputated. But I will soon be back in the “swing” of things. Football, however, is around the corner. I am and will always be a Green Bay Packers fan. Yes I am also a Brett Favre fan - the main reason I became a Packers fan in the early ’90s. I know everyone is sick of hearing about his retirement. I, for one, have yet to watch his “retirement” press conference, because I knew he wasn’t done. He can still play at a high level, and the Packers are on the brink of something great. He is what they need to get back to glory! Their defense is a top-5 squad, and their receiving corps is a top-5 squad. Their #4 actually (go figure):

Read More Here 

So Brett needs to come back in my opinion. I’m not aggravated at all with his dancing around the subject. Of course I am biased, but the guy’s done more for the city of Green Bay than the color green that the Bay was named after. I think he’s kind of earned a pass to do whatever he wants after 17 years of never missing a start and setting every quarterback record that you can think of. I think Aaron Rodgers will be a good quarterback. He will ever know how valuable it was for him to sit on the sideline and not play, so that he can learn and prepare for the time when he is called upon to play. That time is not now. With this team of talent, they need a veteran leader who has been there before and can take them all the way. Or maybe this is the year the Buffalo Bills win one for Jim Kelly?

Ahh, the spontaneous acts we engage in from time to time. I don’t usually act spontaneous, but I felt compelled this past Thursday when I saw on Facebook that a friend of mine was looking for someone to go to St. Louis with him. He was going to meet his girlfriend, who lives in Minnesota, half way and go see a game with her, but she wasn’t able to go. Being the Mets fan that I am, I said I’d go. My friend is from New York and along with another New Yorker (a Yankees fan) we left Thursday around noon and made the 4:30 hour drive to St. Louis. There’s not much between Memphis and St. Louis, except for some “throwed rolls” at Lambert’s. The Mets won 11-1, it was my first Mets game ever, and I’ve been a fan since childhood. No particular reason, I just liked blue, Daryl Strawberry and HoJo, and baseball cards. I really enjoyed the city of St. Louis in my brief stay. I wish to go back soon, maybe spend a weekend. Maybe I’ll go to the Cathedral and try and see the Archbishop before he leaves for Rome! Congratulations to him. All in all, I can’t wait to go back. So here’s to more random acts of fun we should all engage in!