We had a
change of command this week, and things have been a little hectic in the
battalion as a result.
The
outgoing CO (commanding officer) loves golf.
While he is a truly committed Catholic, his other church (his Saturday
and pretty much any other day he can get away with going church) is the golf
course. As his chaplain, it was my
responsibility to support his religious practices; and I was only all too
willing to facilitate this need.
While
many books have been written about golf as an almost Zen religious experience
with nature, I tried to understand my CO’s practices in Jewish terms. If the majority of golfers are like the old chassidim who would talk to the trees or
otherwise commune with nature, my old CO embraces golf like a yekke approaches prayer - early, in the
same location, never deviating from the set path, finished before lunch on
Saturday.
I once
asked him why he goes to Taiyo Golf Club – a club that is 20 minutes away from
his home and a course that is notorious for eating golf balls and destroying
the aspirations of young aspiring golfers, instead of the spacious beautiful
Kadena Golf Course that is on his base?
Lesson to
aspiring chaplains: When a person finds
the right place of worship, don’t pester them about where they like to pray. Just
let them be.
“Kadena
Sucks”.
I figured
that maybe it’s the Marine in the old CO that would not allow him to appreciate
beauty that might have emanated from an Air Force installation. Until earlier today, I had never played golf
at Kadena. CO was right, Kadena sucks.
There’s a
old military truism:
When the
Marine Corps gets money to build a base,
never
mind – Marine Corps never gets money.
When the
Navy gets money to build a base,
they
build a protected port and ask for more to build ships.
When the
Army gets money to build a base,
they
build strong protected forts and ask for more to build higher end protections.
When the
Air Force gets money to build a base,
they
build a golf course and ask for more to build a runway.
I only
wish they could build a better golf course. And that’s all I have to say about
that.
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