HELLO! 

“The human mind plans the way, but God directs our steps.” Proverbs 16:9

“To play golf is to spoil an otherwise enjoyable walk.” Mark Twain

After it was clear medication could not put a dent in my hyperactivity (I should add I never had difficulty with focus, only sitting/standing still) our doctor (Dr. Barrie Coward) recommended to my exhausted mother she register me for every available sport. Given my mother worked for the Halifax Recreation Department as the coordinator of all majorette groups, she had easy access to this list. I played hockey, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, basketball, wrestling, curling, volleyball, and golf. I excelled at sports that featured hand-eye coordination, was poor at sports (like soccer) that included coordination with one’s feet. I also had a hard time adjusting to new instruction, for instance I learned to swing a baseball bat before I learned to play golf. Golf instructors grew weary of telling me to stop “addressing the ball” like I was in a batting cage”.

I could hit the golf ball a long distance, the trouble was it looked great for a short time, only to drift right into the woods. I spent more time in the woods than on fairways and greens. I eventually stopped playing golf but continued to enjoy driving ranges. In my settlement charge, the first church I served as an ordained minister, I was blessed to meet a retired Cape Breton University professor who had time on his hands. Bill lived near the water. His property was large but not large enough for a golf course. Or was it? What if he used tennis balls and golf clubs, adjusting the size of the holes? Given you cannot hit a tennis ball as far as a golf ball it meant Bill could design his golf course on a smaller scale.

For four years, on summer Sundays, after the three church services at 9 am (Birch Grove), 10 am (Port Morien) and 11:15 am (Donkin) I would drive to Homeville, where I would join Bill Meadows and Bill Phillips for 18 holes of tennis ball golf. The beauty of the sun bouncing off the nearby water, the friendly banter of we three gents with our six irons, and the inevitable competition, made the afternoon an absolute delight.

Most of my friends play golf. I lack both the patience and the skill, to enjoy golf. I enjoy sports with a more immediate result and time for correction. Hitting a small ball, then walking ten minutes, only to swing again (often from the woods) is not my idea of fun. Only at driving ranges and on Bill’s course (1991-1995) did I come to love the experience of golf.

Every day this summer I have returned to the practice (I got away from it juggling my three jobs) of a 5 km walk, which is three laps around what we call “the loop” in our subdivision. No headphones, no companionship (apparently, I walk too fast for family and friends), but prayer always part of the experience. When I come back to the house there is always an epiphany, something unexpected as “God directs my steps”. Peace, Kevin