Downright Daring Life

Olympic questions

I've been watching the Olympics, like so many other millions, and have a nagging question.  So what?

Sure it shows a lot of effort, dedication and sacrifice for the athletes but, so what?  Okay, so you can run, you can run really fast - what does that mean?  What does it change or how does it improve the world?  Then I think of the line from the movie Chariots of Fire, "God made me fast and when I run I sense His pleasure."  So, I think that, okay, it is partially about honoring your design, but still I struggle with this.

Every day there is a daily tally of how many medals each country is earning.  As if the country with the most medals wins.  Wins what?  "Our country is better then your country" sung to a nah, nah, nah, nah, nah tune? China has more golds but we all know it is a horrendous torturer of Christians and oppressor of daily life.  So the golds prove just what?

The whole thing makes me uncomfortable.  Where is the eternal value?  Is it in an individual athlete that runs to please Christ and not for the accolades or purposes of his or her country?  Is it in how it shows our petty differences and our glory of the flesh so that we can change our hearts?  Does the 100 million dollars in endorsements that Phelps is estimated to earn in endorsements for swimming really fast prove anything that will stand the test of time?  If I eat the Corn Flakes with his face on the box will it make me a better person?

I know this is cynical and politically incorrect but I can't seem to help it.  The whole world comes together and I feel that we miss the point, miss the opportunity and miss the mark.  Do we compete only to find that what we win is of no value to truly change our lives? 

Maybe, for me, it just causes  me to look into my own motivations and life and see if I am making a difference and if my goals are worthy and eternal ones.  It sure has me thinking about it and asking "So What?" about my life.

Don't eat alone

It's been a busy year.  There have been lots of projects, lots of writing, lots of changes - lots of lots of things.  I find myself in the second half of the year marveling at the twists and turns of events and how much I have and haven't accomplished with these days. 

In all of this the one constant has been the Word and the sweetness of the presence of the Lord.

I am reading slowly, carefully through the Epistles trying not to view them through my education or experience and see with fresh eyes.  Some days, I barely get through a verse or two.  Often, I have to run to my computer to look up a word in the Greek because I get so caught up in needing to understand what God is trying to say.  I find myself thinking, pondering, talking with the Lord about what I read.

It has been a somewhat solitary journey, though not intentionally so. 

I meet with the Lord in the morning with my cup of tea.  I come awake with Him and these words He has placed before me but I find something missing. I want to talk about what I read, ponder it with someone, ask how it changes us and renews our minds before the day takes over and I forget what He told me.  Before the writing and projects and events of the day. 

There is a feast of the Word in my life and I find I really don't like eating alone. 

So, here's my plan.  Friday mornings, Jaime and I will get back to reading a book together and interacting with it and each other.  Every other Saturday I will meet with two other women in a discipleship triad.  I will still seek the Lord in the morning and deliberately be part of His body during the week.