masters memories

 Well, it's that time of year again.  Today I will watch the final round of the Masters from the comfort of my living room.  But it will take me on a journey far bigger than that.  It will fill my heart and soul with forty years of memories.  My father got badges when we lived in Greenville, SC back in the early sixties before the Masters was a big a deal.  So, from about four years old on, we grew up getting to go to the greatest sporting event in the greatest venue of earth on a regular basis.

Through the years I've had the privilege of going numerous times with my dad, then with my wife, and with each of our grown children.  The last several years we went as a family and took turns going to each round.  It is an experience none of us will ever forget.  In fact, the last year we went was two days after my father passed away and he made us promise we would all go to the tournament together before we had his funeral.  It was one of the sweetest trips ever.  It was my father's dying wish. 

Unfortunately, we just missed the time when they would allow the badges to be passed down to your family, because I would love to get to experience the wonder and excitement of the tournament with my grandkids.  

The only word that comes close to describing the beauty and the majesty of Augusta National is pristine.  It is a such an amazing place and the Masters is such a special event.  Even the fans feel like royalty as they walk through the gates.  You immediately get the sense of what an honor and a privilege it is to be able to be a part of such a magical experience.  And if you don't feel that way when you walk in, you are probably not worthy of being there.

So, I will sit and watch the final round today, but I will be doing far more than just watching.  I will be walking the course in my memories with my late father.  I will be looking at the gallery behind number seven, where he used to love to sit.  I will be tasting the pimento cheese, and hearing the roars, and watching in excitement as they change the scoreboard.  And when it's all over, I will take the long walk to the car with a full heart, because to me the Masters is about much more than just golf.

And if you're interested, here's a little something I wrote about it years ago: the masters

lies or prayers

“My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.  How long will you assault a man?  Would you all throw him down—this leaning wall, this tattering fence?  They fully intend to topple him from his lofty place; they take delight in lies.  With their mouths they bless, but in their hearts they curse.  Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.  He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 62:1-6) 

Lies deplete us and prayers sustain us.  That’s one of the lessons we learn from praying this ancient, but ever-new prayer. 

Lies constantly assault us.  They turn us into the worst version of ourselves.  They make us so much less than what God intended us to be—just leaning walls and tottering fences.  Their intent is to topple us from our lofty place, to dislodge us from the belief that we are beloved sons and daughters of God.

Prayers, on the other hand, nourish and nurture and transform us.  It is by prayer that we become exactly who and what God made us to be.  It is by praying these ancient prayers that our souls are able to find their rest in God, for he alone is the source of our rest and our peace.  Only when we trust in him can we begin to experience the kind of soul rest he created us for.  Thus, it is impossible our solus to rest if we do not trust.

So, depleted by lies or sustained by prayer, the choice is ours.  The one we give the most room to is the one that’s going to win out in the end.  Choose prayer.

perfect love

when fear takes up all the space

there is no room for love

fear squeezes it out and

gives it no air to breathe

fear suffocates love's flame

and keeps it from being able to burn

in order for love to have free reign

it must be given room to roam

an emptying must occur

perfect love must cast fear out

just give love a little elbow room

and fear does not stand a chance 

union

losing myself in you

that is the point 

of divine union

all becomes you so that

there is no more me

like rain falling into a pond

loses itself and becomes 

one with the greater

like a stream flowing into the sea

is swallowed up in the vastness of the sea

like light coming into a room

through two windows is joined

into one glorious light

so may i be swallowed up

and disappear into you 

my beloved jesus

so that i cease to exist 

but become one with you

easter morn

stop at the entrance

of the empty tomb

look at the strips

of linen lying there

consider

reflect

pray

contemplate

then go inside

see and believe

good friday 2026

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, 

the author and perfecter of our faith, 

who for the joy set before him 

endured the cross, scorning its shame, 

and sat down at the right hand 

of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

for the joy set before him

he was willing to 

endure the cross

and scorn the shame

but what was that joy

what made it worth the agony

and the shame and the humiliation

what had so captured his heart

that he was willing to 

go to such great lengths

to redeem it all

it was you and me

we were the joy set before him

we consumed his thoughts

and we filled his heart 

as he hung upon that cross

so on this good friday

let us fix our eyes on him

our author and perfecter

our lover and redeemer

our savior and our friend

so that we might be 

his joy again today

 

becoming pluto

the descending way is the path to life

following the time-worn footprints

of the one who stepped down from his throne

to make his home among the broken

and invites us to do the same

will i choose his downward way

will i lay aside privilege and preference

will i take the low road into obscurity

will i embrace humiliation and suffering

so i can become one with the forsaken

will i stop demanding to be

the absolute center of the universe

i the sun and they merely the planets

revolving around my own persona

can i shift from being the sun to becoming pluto

can i make the move from subject to object

will i become a small part of his glorious universe

revolving around the one who is the true center

he the son and i just a dwarf planet

on the outer fringes beyond neptune

held in a beautiful orbit by the 

gravitational pull of divine love

he is offering me an invitation

to become less rather than more

but will i accept his call

or will i continue to fool myself 

into believing that i am 

the center of gravity