golfer and caddy

The Lady's PGA golf tournament is in town this week.  Yesterday afternoon my boss and I headed over to watch the ladies play for a few hours.  The experience was fascinating, whether you are a golfer, like my boss, or a pure spectator (like me).  Many interesting observations came.  There is very little talking around a golf event.  As you watch from the greens or from the tee locations there is light conversation from the crowd...but that quickly ceases as the players step up to make their shots.  Even the golfers don't seem to be talking a great deal.  They're obviously concentrating most of the time, standing over a ball or contemplating their next shot.  It seems such a serene sport, compared to football or ice hockey.  But of course it is a sport and these gals are making their living through it.  Only half of the players on Friday would "make the cut" to finish the tournament and share any prize money.  It certainly must be a difficult life, with the travel, separation from family and pressures of competition.  I watched how each player interacted with their caddy.  Of course the caddy's most obvious job is to carry the bulky golf bag from hole to hole.  But the caddies have other important jobs:  they help their golfer "read" the greens, judge the wind, and select appropriate clubs.  Golfer and caddy know each other well, of course, and have a relationship that carries over from week to week.  As they proceed from shot to shot and hole to hole the caddy is available for casual conversation, and this probably helps reduce the stress of the game.  He is on their side when everyone else on the field is their competitor.  The golfer is watched by thousands of people around the course and, of course, they are paying for that experience...but the golfer really has no relationship with the spectators directly.  I think it would be a much more difficult and lonely game for the pro golfer, without the caddy.  In many respects, the caddy seems an apt picture of the Holy Spirit.  He provides constant companionship, helps us line up our "shots" in life, is available to speak to our hearts truth and correction and is on our side, no matter what we face.   John 14:15-17  "If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you. I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!"   blessings, Rob Smith http://2daysthought.blogspot.com/