Sports at its Best

Trust me, I am not a fan of figure skating. I don't understand its intricacies, its nuances. I just don't get what a "salchow," "flip," or a "lutz" is. Its hard for me to put it on the same level as other "sports" because of the subjective nature of the scoring, although that is now changing. In the old days, when one could predict the score based on old Cold War alliances (even as recently as 2002), its hard to see how it's unlike professional wrestling in its test of athletic prowess.

Last night, at least for one night, I became a real big fan of figure skating. Broadcast was the Ladies' short program and the competition encapsulated what makes sports great. Admittedly, it doesn't hurt that many of the competitors are pleasant to watch, but that's besides the point.

On one hand, there was Kim Yu-na of South Korea.

What's great about athletic competition is that it brings the best out of people. It encourages hard work, perseverance, and training. She's someone facing incredible pressure outside the sport, carrying the hope of a nation on her shoulders. Expectations are sky-high and anything other than a gold would be deemed a failure. Pretty heavy for a 19 year-old! But she brought it and skated beautifully with a performance that was interesting, technically sound, sophisticated, and subtly flirtatious. Sports is a test of will and mental toughness. The ability to perform your best when your best is needed is such an admirable trait.

On the other side, what I also love about sports is that the experiences that athletes go through are just so human and relateable. They representideals and hopes and dreams, yet when they are brought down to earth, they can also represent pain, grief, and sadness. When we see athletes battle through injury, sickness, or personal issues, we admire them for their performance, but more importantly we admire the mere fact that they do not allow such circumstances to change them. It gives us hope and inspiration that we can also battle through such circumstances and not let such pain overcome us.

Such was the case of Joannie Rochette of Canada.

Her mother flew into Vancouver to watch her perform on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, Joannie received a phone call that her mother, only 54, died from a heart attack.Just two days later, she goes out and gives the performance of her life. At the end of the performance, the grief she felt finally took hold and she burst into tears. I have to admit, I had some tears starting to well up in my eye.

There's something about sports that is very symbolic and which is why all civilizations and all countries engage in competition. Sports serve as a microcosm and is representative of the human condition and the wide range of experiences that it brings. Whether its being at the pinnacle and the joys of victory, or bottoming out and feeling the agony of defeat, such emotions are universal. And the themes of the sport experience carry over into life as well. That's the beauty of sport and why I love it, even if it is ladies' figure skating.

America's Exceptionalism

I was watching some highlights of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that was held in Washington last week. Of the speeches made, two of the most notable ones were by Marco Rubio, U.S. Senate candidate from Florida, and Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate. One thing that was a big theme in both of their speeches was the defense of American exceptionalism. In short, that America is not like any other country, it stands above all others and has a special place in the world. Rhetoric like "greatest country ever" and "special place in history" was used quite a bit.

I'm not dismissive of the fact that America has great power and has a special role in this point in time. And I'm very proud of my country. The United States has been a great force for good in this world throughout its history. However, there's something about American exceptionalism's ideas that reeks of arrogance. There's something about it that leads to a tendency to sit on our laurels and forget about working hard and looking introspectively at what we as a country need to improve upon.

I love my country enough to recognize that there are things that it must change and injustices it must cure. We are not exceptional enough not to have any problems. One of the principles of American exceptionalism is that the world will take our example. This, I can agree to a degree: the world needs some more American humility.

Living in the End Times without Being Dramatic

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come."
- Mark 13:31-33

In my Christian walk, I have heard it said quite often through Bible studies and messages that we are "living in the end times." I have also heard that we should live our lives in view of the end times. There is a great amount of support in the Bible for these general propositions. There is mention meeting together as "see the day approaching." There are verses that mention that the day of the Lord coming soon written to awake Christians from their spiritual slumber.

But such recitation and repitition of these general propositions has always left me with the "ampersand" problem. What is next? Yes, we who are redeemed by God are eternally secure and can expect God's redemptive to be complete in the not-to-distant future. Yet, I really have no clue as to what such a life lived should look like. Are we to be desperate and almost in a kind of "rush" to do all we as Christians think we "should" do? Are we to bring about change in the world which we think will prompt the return of Christ? Or are we to do nothing? And if we are to radically change how life is lived, how does that come about?

The message this past Sunday was an "ah-ha" moment for me. We are to live our lives if Jesus could either come back tomorrow or 100 years from now. We are to have the acute awareness that Christ could return imminently, but not idly speculate when that date is and to take extraordinary measures in trying to ascertain when that date is. Rather than focusing solely upon the apocalyptic thoughts that so often grip us when we think about Christ's return, we must look to how Christ is transforming us in the interim between now and His return. We must focus on His redemptive plan for the World and how we may fit into that plan. In short, "living in view of the end times" is something that can be brought about by the recognition that the world as it is today will not be the same tomorrow nor in the future. It is a moving target. In addition, we as people will not be the same. The fate that both we as individuals and the world at large share is the completion of God's plan in the future. When that future is, no one knows.