I don’t usually watch the Olympics, but this year’s CBC spin-off really grabbed hold of my attention. I began watching the snowboarding competitions, and was instantly hooked by the commercials and the in-between’s. CBC decided to showcase the lives of Canadian Olympians and how they journeyed to get to where they are. There was one Olympian who was originally from Russia, but she moved to Canada and is now a Canadian Olympian. However, it never stopped her from revisiting and reminiscing in her hometown in Russia.
And of course, there is the infamous Michael Christian Martinez, the first Olympian from the Philippines, hitting it on ice! He made it past qualifications and placed 19th out of 24 on his first ever Olympic competition. His family even mortgaged their house to get him there and whether his country supported him or not, his only goal was to make his dreams and the dreams of many come true. Despite of not winning the gold medal, he won gold in the hearts of many.
Patrick Chan later caught my attention. I researched more into his journey and discovered that he had disputes with many of the Olympians, but that didn’t make him quit. Heading towards Sochi 2014, he trained for a ridiculous amount of hours a day, with one goal in mind: GO FOR GOLD. He didn’t let personal matters distract him from giving his best. Though he slipped a few times and had a few missteps, he pushed through with balance and charisma throughout the program.
Then there is the most recent and one of the most popular posts of today. “Canada’s Women’s Hockey Team has won GOLD!” Enthusiasm was so present in the posts that it almost felt like everyone was in Sochi, celebrating with the team! How victorious and joyful it must feel! They’ve done it! THEY’VE WON GOLD AND THEY’RE BRINGING IT HOME!
How I wish the Olympics were like faith and ultimately, our relationship with the Lord… We are called for this… to be Olympians of our faith… to BE OLYMPIANS FOR THE LORD!
It is hours and hours of training each day for these athletes – YEARS, EVEN! Yet in the midst of all this training, they carry one thought:
“GO FOR GOLD.”
We, too, should be doing this. We are in a constant training for the Olympics, but our training is within our hearts. A Kuya once asked me, “What’s the state of your heart?” And what I once thought was a light question (or a funny question to ask to create small talk) began to dawn on me moment by moment… This is the question that drives the “training of the heart”. Through all the broken bones, broken ribs, broken hearts, broken spirits (and surgery on some), exercise, recovery, physiotherapy, therapy and being in the ICU for some is PRAYER. And the total recovery after that is determined by our free will. The freedom of allowing the Holy Spirit – through prayer – to completely heal us and work through us is OUR GRAB FOR GOLD. It is not the victory that determines a champion for the victory has already been claimed… It is the attitude we carry towards getting there.
We must BELIEVE that God has already claimed it for us and just have confidence in Him, while doing our best to heed the ways and commands He calls us to to get there.
With God, it is actually better than the Olympics… there is no silver or bronze – just GOLD.
Lord, today, my prayer is simple… I pray that no matter what happens, I will always be reminded to “go for gold,” and that I may always do so, single-minded for You, oh Lord.
Amen.