This is being written on the close of the 2012 Olympics in London, U.K, also known as Great Britain. It has been an excellent Olympics XXX – of the modern age. Today the American team in Basketball won the gold medal with a score of 107 to 101, playing the Spanish team. The American team included Kevin Love from the Minneapolis professional team, and the Spanish included Mario Rubio from the same team. (Both Olympic teams were manned by excellent players, some from professional teams in the sport.) Rubio is a Spanish citizen, but did not play in the game while recovering from an injury. He represented his country for the team. The Olympics had nothing to do with either professional rivalry, or the professional high paying contracts of the players. Ego and tensions were muted in an attitude of nationalism and winning/losing in good spirit. One doubts that any amount of money to these players could have made them happier, more joyous, than to have played an exciting game for no fee or personal award except to have won a medal for their country. They never felt a higher love for country than at the moment their National Anthem was played with hands over hearts. Draped with American flags, the players bowed and gestured to the mammoth audience applauding. The athletes were of different races, languages, genders, economies and countries (friendly and unfriendly in real life). They seemed like brothers and sisters, equals and accepting of one another. Thereto may hang a tale, a tale ancient and modern recognized by the Apostle Paul in his era. He used the ancient Olympics to freight God’s message.
We need to believe that principles recommended of God for spiritual life will serve well as principles for natural (human) life when appropriate to meaning. The Olympics are based on an idealism that relates to honesty. It is assumed by the world population that all nations sending representatives to the games are guided by approved committees who follow the rules which are applicable to all. There are few or no exceptions. Some participants do better than others but no one is lesser than another. It makes for great expectations that all (Olympians) will do well, fulfilling expectations that each has done his or her best in the process. One wonders why this might not be a period when the community of nations come together for a marvelous extravaganza of physical ability and prowess may be useful in some additional way to advance world peace, and the good will of the better situated nations in size and resources learn about those who have so little – and so to reach out to them in dignified assistance to provide opportunity. There ought to be a statement from the United Nations asking how this program that is now ongoing in the nations with winter games on opposite bi-annual years might relate so to bring peace and good will to all nations. Scripture refers to the good will related to the meaning of Christ, in his birth, in common grace. The Olympics might be used to foster positive improvements for the relating nations. What a gift to humanity.
As far as I know there was only one severely dark moment in the games, and it was handled well by the officials who went by the good book of the rules of the games. One nation’s athletes in table tennis performed poorly in preliminary rounds. Everyone knows how supremely excellent they are in the sport, but they did poorly so to meet lower level teams in the early rounds, a plan that would reduce any possible risk of a loss. They would win, in any event, but the opponents would do better against them than they would have done in honesty. The authorities rightly eliminated the clever teams from competition. The violation was most objectionable in that thousands of persons had expectations of seeing the team in faithful performance. They came to applaud, but booed instead. Such is in man’s story, our hypocrisies. The parable of the Olympics was used by the Apostle Paul for a lesson. His sermon remains alive in our time. We are in the game of life, and need to play it out with all we are. Integrity means something to the story. Society and even God, needs the best from us as standards, that all might reach for. In this we express the meaning of right (righteousness). To play the game as clever ruse for the future will not cut it with God or society – in the end. Advancement in society, work, marriage and family or in any other context should be in integrity about who we are. Even in contest our yearning is for truth. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020