6 Par

6 Par

Now any self respecting golfer knows that according to the rules of golf, there are only 3 pars, 4 pars, and 5 pars. There is no such thing as 6 pars.

Case Closed?

Not so fast….

I am reminded of one of our most outspoken political personages, former United States Agriculture Secretary, see Below:
“At the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome, Butz made fun of Pope Paul VI’s opposition to “population control” by quipping, in a mock Italian accent: “He no playa the game, he no maka the rules.”  A spokesman for Cardinal Cooke of the New York archdiocese demanded an apology, and the White House requested that he apologize.  Butz issued a statement saying that he had not “intended to impugn the motives or the integrity of any religious group, ethnic group or religious leader.”  Through a spokesman, he stated that media outlets had taken this portion of his statement out of their original context, which was that of retelling a joke. “(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Butz)

“He no playa the game, he no maka the rules” :):)
6 Par… A new game.. I play golf, so I can make some new rules!

These rules are made so I, who am still having difficulty walking, let alone hitting long golf shots, can enjoy golf, and also for my friend, Ray Willkie, who is in Stage 4 of cancer of the larynx, which has metastasized.

Here are the rules:

“Fellow competitors” (I may have more to say on that term later), play according to these rules I have invented because of my torn Patella tendon injury which has made me unable to play golf in a regular way and also created the rules for my friend, Ray Willkie, mentioned above, ride up to the green area in a golf cart. The par is 6 on any hole. The first shot is hit from the fringe or rough where the cart stops with a wedge. The players gear is limited to two clubs, a wedge of their own choice, and a putter, and limited to three balls. The wedge shot counts as one stroke. If one person misses the entire green with the wedge shot, he can use a wedge again to arrive on the green, but this takes away the free throw to be described next.  Next, both competitors throw one ball to the hole either underhanded or over handed as chosen with the loft desired in accordance with the playing conditions toward the hole. This throw does not count as a stroke, but helps develop hand eye coordination. The next ball is thrown to another area of the green for a long putt. The fellow competitor follows suit attempting to duplicate the other player’s shot and throw. Then each player plays his ball until it is putted into the hole NO GIMMIES.

One can also play this game by oneself. Par is 6 on any hole. A Birdie is 5, and an Eagle is 4 and a hole in one is three. If playing as partners, the loser gets the opportunity to start the next hole. If your fellow competitor scores better than you for three consecutive times, then he must play left handed (or other handed) until you score better for three rounds in a row. This helps level the playing field.

Talk to each other. Listen to each other… Learn from each other. Have fun!

For those who believe in God, I am thinking of some lessons to learn….

We are all fellow competitors in life as a golfer is a fellow competitor against the golf course, and the ball is played as it lies, so are we fellow competitors in life, “not against flesh and blood”, but against higher powers and principalities, otherwise known as evil forces of the universe, or in ancient lore, such as the book of Job, sea monsters, or Leviathan. We are all in this game of life together, and we all must realize the end goal is not to make it out of this life alive, but to give our lives in service to each other and to make some kind of contribution to society and to each other as human beings created in God’s image. Let’s live this life together, not fighting one another, not participating in the Myth of Redemptive Violence foisted upon us for the past thousands of years as the solution to our problems… Look for instance, at most political parties, including those in the current United States Presidential “game”… Both parties think violence is the solution to Evil… Which one will defeat this Evil with the violence they purport? It just has not worked for thousands of years… why not try something else?

Let us help each other out… If our fellow competitor is losing, let us drop his ball closer to the hole, making it easier on him, not more difficult… Oh, and let us love one another, even our enemies, in this game of life….

God, (or Jesus, if you are a Christian), has a perfect right to change the rules of life… So must we change the rules of golf if those rules become too difficult for us… If we can’t walk so well, if cancer is harming our bodies, let us change the rules… Jesus did… He did it for us… The Law, and even the 10 Commandments, the heart of the law, were changed by Jesus to their Spiritual intent in a New Covenant he made, not in agreement with us, but in agreement with himself, that our only rules in life should be based upon the premise that we love each other as Jesus loved us, including loving our enemies. It is not that those rules are any easier, or that it is any easier to make par 6 according to the above rules, than par 3, 4 , or par 5, but that we can still play the game. We do not have to be a mighty warrior, but can be an old man, an old woman, or a little child playing by a golf hole, or the hole of a snake, or a child petting a lion…. that is what it means to walk in this Kingdom , there is no hurt, no pain, no suffering in this Kingdom, and every tear is wiped away… I am reminded of the Kingdom of Shivas Irons…http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Kingdom_of_Shivas_Irons.html?id=gsuxw1kYjRQC, only this Kingdom is so much better, and Eternal too..

Let’s make par 6’s if needed, Let’s love one another and die for one another, not kill one another, nor send out Drones to kill each others families sleeping in bed, including women and babies, and children playing with toys… http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=6yMOzvmgVhc#!Let’s drop the ball closer to the hole… Golf balls, that is, not Drones…  Hopefully our enemies, if we have any after they understand this Divine love, will understand and join us…. Walk together to the green… Let us not develop nuclear weapons, let us ask forgiveness for ever having used them, let us disarm ourselves of nuclear weapons, ALL nations, that is… and submit ourselves to the risk of living this life and dying out of Divine love, not human greed and hate, or of our “right to exist”… After all we have sinned, we have no “right to exist”, except my Grace of God…. Our new life will also be according to this same Grace of God.
Believe… Believe we can walk at Peace with God and each other, with nature, hearing the birds chirp and sing, and believe that God is at Peace with us… It just does not matter what score we make in life… or, on a particular segment or golf hole… Enjoy the journey… Accept suffering… Be Joyful… We are ALL already forgiven… Just believe…

Oh, and try out my new game… 6 Par, some time… You will like it!

John Cooper
Tuscaloosa, AL