I have watched a lot of golf in my life.  Most of those who play at a high level love the game of golf. A good portion of their waking hours are spent thinking about, practicing, talking about, playing and training for their sport.  I have seen players execute shots most golfers only dream about yet few express joy at the accomplishment.  Instead, displays of frustration often follow a missed putt or an errant shot and at the end of the round, conversations rarely recount good shots instead choosing to ruminate on the ones that went astray.

This weekend as I watched the Provo Open golf tournament, I was introduced to Rocky, who was serving as a caddie for a friend. Rocky sees the world differently than most of us and though living in the body of a fifty year old man, he frequently expressed the joy of an eleven year old boy.  After each shot off the tee, Rocky would enthusiastically call out, “Good shot, champ”.  He watched his friend for cues on when to be sad at an errant ball but when a putt rolled into the hole he knew it called for a “Whoo Hoo Hoo Hoo!”  It seemed no one was enjoying the tournament more than Rocky and we enjoyed it more too as Rocky exemplified the timeless truth,  “Both abundance and lack [of abundance] exist simultaneously in our lives, as parallel realities. It is always our conscious choice which secret garden we will tend…” (Sarah Ban Breathnach)

In the garden of our lives we can tend to the weeds and worry over them or nurture and enjoy the beauty of the blooms and blossoms.  “In this life, at least, joy and sorrow are inseparable companions.  Like all of you, I have felt my share of disappointment, sorrow, sadness and remorse.  However, I have also experienced for myself the glorious dawn that fills the soul with joy so profound that it can scarcely be kept in…Jesus said, ‘I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.’”  He offers all He has if we choose to see it, practice it and enjoy it.