Olympic Reflection

Today has been a wonderful conclusion to the work/school week. With some rain yesterday, Atlanta has cooled off to highs in the mid-80s with very little humidity. The children at the seminary are all outside riding bikes, pretending, doing science experiments with bugs. On my run this afternoon I saw elementary school teachers unloading cars full of supplies, decorations, books, getting ready for learning to take place on Monday. Tonight Rebecca and I are going over to our neighbors' house for a cookout, a thank you for helping them move apartments last week. And then the opening ceremonies for the Olympics begin at 7:30. These are the kinds of days that give you energy, that remind you how tied your life is to what happens around you, how, despite our best efforts, we are part of creation, not controllers of it.

And this leads me to thoughts on our Olympics this year. There has been a lot of controversy around the Olympics being held in China, and everyone has seen the protests and such as the torch traveled to Beijing. But days like today I hope can focus us on the bigger picture of the Olympic games.

In these anxious days when economies are sliding, we are fretting constantly about security risks, and spending countless hours denouncing or defending wars, we need the Olympics. The Olympics are above the fray of rival governments and call us to recognize how closely tied we are, how capable of cooperation we can be. The Olympics are a celebration of creation. Individuals from different cultural, religious, ideological backgrounds come together. Those of us who marvel at our television sets watch the strongest, fastest, most agile bodies on our planet push the limits of the human body and show us just what amazing creatures we are.

The Olympics allow us to recognize the humanity in all people and see how artificial and man-made boundaries of nation can be. We see "our" people standing next to the "other," and we realize how remarkably similar that "other" looks and behaves like us. We have different worldviews, religions, political allegiances, fears, and hopes. But the Olympics cause us to recognize that we are all parts of a complex and beautiful creation. Days like today give me hope; we need more days like this.