Going for Gold

Outstanding preparation combined with exhausting effort has been paraded on our screens in the last week. Tokyo 2020 is proving to be the making (and the breaking) of so many hopes and dreams. Despite the rigours of the pandemic and the delays that has caused, these young men and women are committed to achieving their highest and their best in Japan - nothing less will do.

Commitment is what gets them up every morning long before the rest of us, to train, exercise and prepare. Then, after a full days work in most cases, it is their high level of commitment to achieve their Olympic gold, that gets them out to train in the evenings also. It must be a lonely road in order to prepare properly for these few days of competition, as others may not share or appreciate the single minded devotion to their sport that they must show.

One of the early leaders of the Christian faith, St Paul, urged those who follow Christ to recognise that they also are in a race or are competing to win in life.  Winning may not have the glamour of the Olympic podium or win the applause of others, but it will only happen when a life is lived with a clear-cut commitment to a cause outside of oneself. He wrote; 'Do you remember how, on a racing-track, every competitor runs, but only one wins the prize? Well, you ought to run with your minds fixed on winning the prize! Every competitor in athletic events goes into serious training. Athletes will take tremendous pains—for a fading crown of leaves. But our contest is for an eternal crown that will never fade' (1 Cor. 9:24 JBPhillips). Maybe we need a commitment check-up right now?

We have seen the look of utter exhaustion but also of ecstasy on the faces of medal winners as they meet the goal for which they have been training for so long. I wonder what our faces would reflect if we were truly committed to do God's will and serve his purpose in our time? In fact, I wonder what our churches would look like if a majority shared a level of commitment that would not settle for second best? The glint of life's greatest gold beckons us on!

A Message from Rock

 

I went walking on a Guernsey headland during a recent week on a day when the weather was particularly dull and cold for mid-July, and the sky was black with foreboding. A brisk chill wind was blowing in my face, and it looked like a storm might be brewing. Suddenly, at the top of a little grassy hill, I came across a lump of granite on which someone had sprayed the word ‘HOPE’ in golden letters. I felt as if the word had been painted there just for me. 

Addressing islanders at last Friday’s coronavirus briefing, the island's leading psychiatrist Dr Bishop urged that people continue to trust the relevant medical and political teams that have watched over us so well but added two more things we need at this time: kindness and hope. After the dark cold months of pandemic, when so much has been taken from us in terms of freedom, only to be replaced by fear and isolation, we are all in need of both!

What struck me as interesting about the painted rock is that the granite is split in the centre from top to bottom. Into my mind came the words of an old hymn, ‘Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee’. The hymnwriter Augustus Toplady drew his inspiration from an incident in the gorge of Burrington Combe in the Mendip Hills in England. Toplady, a preacher in the nearby village of Blagdon, was travelling along the gorge when he was caught in a storm. Finding shelter in a gap in a nearby rock, he was struck by the title and scribbled down the initial lyrics. He drew on the biblical idea that Jesus is a rock who was split or ‘cleft’ on the cross at Calvary and can be a place of shelter for us today when life gets stormy.

When threatened with destruction during the Second World War, the George Cross island of Malta was saved by, among other things, three flimsy Gloster Gladiator biplanes which were christened by the locals ‘Faith, ‘Hope’ and ‘Charity’. They overcame huge attacks thrown at them by enemy air forces. Perhaps these same virtues will help and protect us, including our mental health, as we fight on against the pandemic to regain our freedoms today.

The Reluctant Rescued

Who would have thought it!? Surely butter wouldn't melt in the mouth of this little dog? Yet, a similar Bichon Frise was the subject of a recent BBC 2 documentary about the amazing work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in the UK, called 'Saving Lives at Sea'. The poor dog was on a walk with its owner when it ventured too close to the cliff edge and fell 40 metres to an inaccessible beach below. The owner was distraught and immediately determined to climb down, putting his own life at risk. Thankfully, a bystander convinced him otherwise, and called for the emergency services.

Now my international readers may not understand the mindset of a British volunteer lifeboat crew who would put their own lives at risk to rescue a dog. They set out to do so for several reasons, among them the love of animals, but also in the knowledge that if someone did not help it the owner might do themselves harm, or even die in the attempt. Their self-sacrificing act speaks volumes to me of human kindness and mercy, and is a reflection of God's grace too.

What followed was a sight to behold, because the team managed to get onto the cliff bottom only with great difficulty and finally locate the stranded animal - who didn't want to have anything to do with them! The scenes that followed were amazing - well meaning grown men trying to coax a tiny dog into a salvage bag while the beastie growled and tried to bite them like a tiger! Thankfully, despite risking a finger or two, the team managed to subdue and get it into the bag, onto their boat and back to the grateful owners. They could not believe the little canine had been so aggressive, and he was back to his usual loving self within seconds, even licking the lifeboat men's hands.

All of this made me reflect about how I treat the grace of God myself. He only comes to rescue me from my own misdemeanours and mistakes, yet so often I am equally reluctant to trust him. Of course I realise that the poor animal was shocked from the fall and terrified by the appearance of bright yellow coated and helmeted beings looking like aliens! But God's grace does not always reach us in ways that we can easily recognise. In fact, some of his rescue missions can appear very alien to the world we normally inhabit.

As a dog lover I was so relieved that the team managed to overcome the animal's resistance to be rescued and get him home. I hope that the next time I require God's mercy (and I think that will probably be today) I will receive it a bit more willingly than our little furry friend did!