Skiing, Skating, & Sliding the Race...of Faith?

 

                               Canadian Max Parrott, gold medal snowboarder who overcame cancer

 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 

Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

We are active outdoor people but our primary morning event these days is getting the coffee percolator going before checking in on the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. This morning we chatted about the number of events including the short track skating we were watching, skeleton, snowboarding, and skeleton which didn't exist decades ago when we first became aware of the Olympics. Not only do these disciplines require ming-boggling athletic skill, the descriptive language for some of the sports is essentially "speaking in tongues" for the uninitiated. 

As is almost always the case with these competitions, there are "sure thing" athletes who are inexplicably not at their best in the big moment or who crash as they push for that tiny edge over the best in the world. Some are just too "old" (thirties!) to attain their previous excellence. It's hard to imagine the disappointment. 

Then there are the upstarts who surprise everyone to get on the podium. Others overcome tremendous adversity, everything from broken bones and torn ligaments to cancer in order to regain Olympic form. All of them are exceptional and despite the commercialization of the games and the political intrigue they deserve our admiration.

Once again I think about the apostle Paul and his use of the metaphor of running the race of faith. Paul certainly upheld the grace of God, the free gift of love and salvation in Christ. Yet he also understood perserverence and the importance of striving toward our own PB, the personal best of the faithful Christian life. Paul was a Roman citizen so he probably witnessed athletic competitions and understood that excelling in a race is more than vanquishing the other participants. In faith, as in other aspects of life, we endeavour to do our best for ourselves, for others, and for God. 

                                                                                Eric Liddell 

I also recall the story of Eric Liddell, the Scottish athlete of another era who famously refused to run on a Sunday because of his Christian convictions but won gold in another race which wasn't his discipline. In the film, Chariots of Fire, Liddell, who eventually became a missionary in China,  reads from the book of Isaiah to emphasize the strength which God gives for the race. 

Well, we will head out for a ramble today and maybe I'll hum the theme for Chariots of Fire along the way. While we may eventually check our step count we won't be worrying about any speed records! We'll just do our best not to fall down given that we don't bounce the way we once did.

29 [God] gives power to the faint,
    and strengthens the powerless.
30 Even youths will faint and be weary,
    and the young will fall exhausted;
31 but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength,
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
    they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40: 29-31