I am learning to play golf for reasons best left unexamined, since those reasons are boring.

What is exciting is the confrontation this activity has unleashed. A battle has ensued on my inner field of play – between doing the enjoyable (smacking little balls around) and denying the enjoyable (the loftier goal).

My problem with golf is much akin to my problem with other enjoyable behaviors. There is no spiritual payoff, no return on the investment in the form of holy gains.

Not a soul forced me to place more import on suffering than on pleasure, although my affiliation with saints, reformed sinners and generally holy people is somewhat higher than the norm. I chose to place denial higher on the evolutionary scale.
Golf forces me to rethink that choice.