I Just Claim to Love the Game

About the Book

“In life, as in this game, when we give into the drive to do more, to do it as quickly as possible, and to cram as much into one day as we possibly can, then it would seem to me that it’s time to slow down.  Changes need to be made if we are going to survive, and not only survive but enjoy living.  My life came to a screeching halt in June of 2004.  I was just bee-boppin’ along, minding my own business, doing my job, doing my job, and, oh yes, doing my job.  Golf?  Well, at that point in my life I had not swung a club in over a year.  And, as far as my boat goes?  It had been sitting under my carport, untouched for over a year, just like my golf clubs.  Then one day I sat down, took a bite of my lunch, and BAM!  The food stopped right at the center of my chest and refused to go down.  The pain was the worst thing I had ever experienced in my entire life.  A week or so later I went in for some tests, and the doctor told me that I had a golf-ball-size tumor in my esophagus, right where the esophagus meets the stomach.  (Oh, the irony.)  Seven months of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery later, my entire outlook on life was different.  The surgery, commonly called an esophagectomy, was suppose to be very major to begin with.  The fact that there were complications during surgery and the two or three days after brought me close to death’s door and inflicted an incredible amount of trauma to my body.  Ask anyone now, and they’ll tell you that I’m a walking miracle.  I am not anywhere near understanding how this experience has changed me, but I do see myself doing everything, and I mean everything much more slowly.  I don’t feel as rushed or preoccupied when I’m with people as I did before.  I tend to speak and preach more slowly.  I pray  more slowly and deliberately, whether alone or with my congregation.  And, yes, I play golf three times a week now, go to the range once a week, and I play slow enough to enjoy it.  And all the while, I actually do see myself getting better and better at it.

Again, I will never be a pro.  I will not advise anyone as to how many holes they might want to try to play in a day.  And it often takes the first five holes for me to just settle down and practice what I preach.  I just claim to love the game.  Despite my own shallow level of knowledge and skill, however, it still seems to me that life, like golf, should ideally be taken slowly.  Unlike a round of golf, during which you get many shots, in the round of life you only get one.  The sooner we realize this and the sooner we put it into practice as best we can, the better off we will be.  I was lucky.  Yes, I really do mean it.  My cancer, while I certainly do not feel it was caused by God, did indeed slow me down and cause me to re-think everything.  This whole experience has given me not only a new lease on life, as they say, but a new outlook on everything and everyone.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: life, like golf, cannot be enjoyed at a fast pace of play.  More is not better, and fast is not best.  We should take our time.  We should enjoy it.”

About the Author

Fr. Trey Nelson is 43 years old and a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  He has been a priest for 18 years and is the oldest of seven children.  Fr. Trey is a 1980 graduate of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, a 1984 graduate of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, and a 1988 graduate of Notre Dame Seminary Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans.  He has served as associate pastor at St. Isidore, St. Jude, and Most Blessed Sacrament Parishes in the Diocese of Baton Rouge, past chaplain of Catholic High School, Spiritual Director for the Office of Youth Ministry, and Facilitator of the Diocesan Council for Youth Ministry Development.  Currently, he serves as pastor of St. Anne and Assumption Parishes and Immaculate Conception Chapel, in Napoleonville and Plattenville, Louisiana, and as a member of the Diocesan Committee for Child Protection.  He is the author of 3 other self published works: Prayers for the Table and Other Family Blessings, To Be a Pilgrim Companion: Roles and Boundaries in Ministry with Minors, and From Padre’s Kitchen: Prayers, Recipes, and Tales from the Bayou.

Most significantly, Fr. Trey is a 1 year survivor of esophageal cancer.  His experience of the journey from diagnosis through extensive treatment, and major surgery into recovery was the inspiration for this book.  His main desire, though, was to express his gratitude for the genuine concern and love shown by those who helped him to make the journey back into daily living and ministry.  The image of a friend who helps another to “carry both their cross and their clubs” is an image that Fr. Trey returns to more than once throughout these pages.  I Just Claim to Love the Game is filled with funny little stories and images of one man who started playing the game at the age of eleven, quit for a while, and then returned only to find more peace and enjoyment than he could ever have imagined.