2006 Olympics

(my Olympic Crush)
I normally don't get consumed with the Olympics like I have for the past two days...maybe the snowstorm and the rather quiet weekend has had something to do with my fascination this year. I just can't get over the risks that these athletes take...whether it's going down the luge at 85 miles an hour and that's a minimum (not too mention the attempts of "grandma luge"- the sole Virgin Island athlete who is well over 50...unfortunately she had to withdraw due to a bad crash into the wall of the luge...ouch!) or going over mogules at 35 mph that leads you to a ramp in which you have the option to do a freestyle move while in the air. The obstacles these athletes overcome can also provide that extra motivation to get up and workout...the male for the Japanese pair figure skating team suffered an achilles tendon rupture last summer (and made a comeback in 6 months...that pretty impressive for this type of surgery) and a US skier has come back from not one but two broken ankles that caused her to pass out from the pain. These guys and gals will do anything to be on the podium. Even though NBC has a tendency to be over dramatic on some of their storytelling, I think hearing the stories and then seeing these athletes live their dream is the best part about the Olympics.
In the book The Call, Os Guinness says that "heroism has fallen on hard times in the modern world." One reason he gives to this crisis is the fact that there are fewer heroes--"because the role of the press and media in creating the modern celebrity and widening the gap between fame and greatness, heroism and accomplishmet." Fame can come instantly these days from winning a singing competition or falling in love with a Bachelor...but heroism is linked to the honor of accomplishment, of having geninuinely accomplished an achievement with sweat, cost, and dedication. I think some of these athletes hint on a truer definition of "heros" than what we normally see the media covering...over and over again.
The final reason Os Guiness gives for the "crisis of herosim" is the so-called death of God in Western society or what should be termed more accurately "the drowning out of the call of God in modern life." Ernest Becker recognized this problem as well and described being a great human being was to be "a knight of faith." He describes this type of man so well, I just have to include it:
"This figure is the man who lives in faith, who has given over the meaning of his life to his Creator...He accepts whatever happens in this visible dimension without complaint...no task is too frightening to be beyond his courage. He is fully in the world on its terms and wholly beyond the world in his trust in the invisible dimension."
Wow...these definitely are beautiful and challenging ideals, but thankfully "one cannont give the gifts of the knight of faith without first being dubbed by some Higher Majesty."
So back to the Olympics...I think my connection or the point of bringing these two thoughts together is that for two weeks we get to see people so caught up in their dream, passion and their eyes so fixed and focused on the goal of their life...that it inspires, drives and guides them to incredible feats. We'll get to see these athletes live out their dreams, and I hope these visible pictures of perseverance will be used to encourage me (and you) to walk out our faith...in the midst of whatever obstacle we may be facing.