By Glenn Miller

GOD’S WORD: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” – 1 John 4: 7

With the warm summer breezes (yeah, right! 95 in the shade!) in North Texas, my schedule finds me quite often out on the golf course, sponsoring and participating in business-related tournaments. This past week was a perfect example of what lies ahead of me during the next four or five months: blistering dry heat, sand in every crevice and cranny on my body (wonder how that gets there?), all within the environment of relaxation and competition.

With most of these tournaments consisting of architects and contractors in the construction industry, the atmosphere about one third of the way through the course begins to resemble something off the streets at Mardi Gras rather than what one might see when watching Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach.

Gone is the etiquette. Gone is the decorum.
Gone is the gentlemanly decorum that was so present at the first tee box.

These noble virtues are now displaced by a mixture of frustration, exhaustion, competitiveness, and to some degree, intoxication; brought on by the golf pro telling everyone to keep drinking plenty of liquids. For some, even the language after a tee shot becomes less tame and more corrosive.

But not every player loses his temper and self-control, no matter how bad their shot is. Such was the case the other day with my cart partner, a door manufacturer from Denver. No matter how bad I hit my ball, he’d always have a positive comment like “that’s the way to play that tree!” But I also noticed his comments after his own faux pas. One time, when we were just about to pass out from the heat, he miffed his swing and dribbled the ball just a few short feet in front of him. Instead of letting out a flourish of four-letter words, my friend merely stated under his breath, “heavens to Betsy!”

Not missing an opportunity to discuss theology, I broke the ice afterwards by asking him about that phrase. Neither one of knew where it came from but by postulating on its origin, it opened up the conversation to speculations involving salvation, providence, grace, and mercy. What “heaven” is it referring to, the hereafter or the here and now? Is heaven coming down to Betsy or is Betsy lifted up to heaven? Why? And above all, who is this Betsy that we’re talking about?

Before we knew it, we had both told the other about our churches and our own individual ministries. From there, we discovered a bond that we share in the greater church, the body of Christ. It seems that although we come from different churches and theologies, we both that afternoon under the hot blistering sun claimed our heritage as children of God. The world around us grew a little less abstract that afternoon. All because of one comment. Coincidence or providence?

We never did get around to figuring out what the phrase “heavens to Betsy” meant, so I am posing that question to you this morning. If you know or, better yet, haven’t a clue but would like to render a speculation, please respond to me. Sometimes just thinking about simple phrases like this will open up new doors of understanding, thought provocation, or in my case recently, new friendships.

Perhaps you’ll find the same!