Nancy and I were watching the Winter Olympics the other
evening and, as I suspect at least a few others do, I was imagining what it
would be like to 'be' one of those athletes in Sochi. The Half-Pipe, Skeleton,
Moguls, Alpine Skiing, Biathalon, Cross Country Skiing, Free Style Skiing,
Luge, Nordic Combined, and even Snowboard . . . in each event, I could see
myself participating, competing, winning, and standing on the podium as the
National Anthem of the United States is played. Figure or Free Style Skating,
maybe not so much . . . this body was never meant to be in those sort of
tights. Curling . . . well, maybe, but only if I can wear the kind of pants the
Norwegians wore this year. Hockey? Definitely not . . . I like all my teeth and
the thought of people checking me into the boards is too much like monthly
Church Council meetings (Just kidding!). But, you get the idea, the little kid
in me always wonders, hopes, dreams, imagines . . . and then the old man in me
looks at the mirror and just laughs.
It was in such a 'mirror' moment that I recently came to the
understanding that (listen carefully now . . .) 'The Olympics happen precisely
because of people like me.' You are very welcome! I appreciate all your
gratitude and support.
There it is. Were it not for people like me, Sochi, Russia,
would just be another forgotten town along the mountains. Were it not for
people like me, Matt Lauer and Al Roker would never have the opportunity to try
out Winter sports on TV. Were it not for people like me sponsors like Nike,
Adidas, Puma, and who knows how many others with particular specialties in
Winter sports, would never make the sales they do. Were it not for people like
me, the world would be condemned to 'normal' network and sports station
programming. (Horrors!) That's it! It is precisely because of people like me
that the vast multi-billion dollar industrial and sports complex continues to
create and bring in unimaginable amounts of wealth across such an expansive
realm of opportunities! Again, in answer to the depth of your gratitude I say,
You are very welcome! I appreciate your support and confidence.
"How is it that you are able to nearly single-handedly
make this happen?" you ask? Here is my secret . . . (lean in close to your
screen now and don't let anyone else hear this as you read it out loud, as so
often you do when you read . . .) I can summarize my contribution to this
phenomenon in one word: 'Training'. I have been relentlessly training my entire
lifetime for this moment, for this event, for this singular opportunity to
transform the world and affix redemptive wonder to the lives of others. For,
isn't this exactly why the Olympics exist??
If I didn't train so extensively, for such a long period of
time, to be exactly the person I am, how would anyone ever have any idea why
such amazing athletes exist at all? Looking in the mirror I could see what
differentiates the Olympic athletes from me and many like me: youth, vigor,
particularized training, drive, physical fitness, sponsors with deep pockets,
national pride and . . . oh yes, a certain amount of talent and inward bearing
for the sport. Yet, that's just the point! If we were all the same, if we all
could participate in the Olympics, there wouldn't be the need for the Olympics!
We would be just one vast super-race of athletes . . . and there would be no one
to impress, no one to dream of being like you, no one to buy the tickets to
watch you play, no one to pay for the shirt (or one like it) on your back, no
one to organize the tail-gates, no one to purchase cars painted in their team
colors, and no one to be the cheerleaders (gasp!), there wouldn't even be
cheerleaders or fans - because we would all be participating in every event!
You see, that is my contribution to the purpose of the Olympics.
That is my gift to the world! I, and many like me, are the difference-makers on
the field of competition: Because we can't (and some would argue 'shouldn't'),
they can. Indeed, they have to - for the sake of the rest of us. They are the
cream which rises, the ladder-climbers which ascend, the over-achievers who
elevate the bar - constantly reminding and thanking us for the gift we give
them. In looking at the rest of us, the Olympic athlete is driven to sublime
prayer and gratitude, "Thank you, God, for these poor schluckers who can't
do what I do and provide for me the means to become very successful and
reasonably rich! And thank you, God, that I am handsome/beautiful and do not
have to live through another's accomplishments or have to dream of being just
like somebody else! Thank you, God, for my excellence!"
Yes, were it not for me and people like me, prayer life
would suffer, God's relationship with God's people might even languish.
Heavens! The ordinary and less than ordinary wouldn't be praying to be lifted
up, for there would be no ordinary and less than ordinary or even a need to be
lifted up, and the extraordinary would never do the Tebow in the end zone or
point to the sky or thank God while looking in the camera - because nothing
they did would be outstanding. We would all be the same.
There it is! My purpose in the Olympics, finally, defined!
And I am a 'top platform', gold medal contributor to the cause! In my very
being, I make others look good and, in so doing, create the purpose for the Olympic
Flame to burn brightly every four years. Again, you are welcome! It was the
least I could do . . . and if anyone knows what the least is which I can do,
it's me. It makes me happy to have made such an extravaganza possible for the
rest of the world. Enjoy the Olympics - and dream of what it might be for you
to ski down a slope backwards, flipping a 720 at the jump and landing upright,
sticking your snowboard solidly under you as you swoosh up to the camera,
throwing snow into the lens with your joyful laughter filling the audio. It's
the gift I gladly give you. You're welcome.
