Greetings …
It seems that the Olympic Games has caught our attention again, particularly the performance of our Australian athletes who, according to many of the commentators I have heard, are all supposed to be bringing home medals, preferably gold ones. Are these games going to be the ‘most successful games ever’ that we are hoping for?
Of course we all like to win and a medal is a wonderful way to celebrate all the hard work that has gone before the victory, even though the only work most of us have done is to turn the coverage on. I have been thinking, however, that somehow our focus is in the wrong place – on the final result rather than the journey to get there.
Earlier this week I read an article where Chloe Covell responded to a reporter saying ‘I tried my best. I just wanted to keep trying and not give up.’ I do wonder what more we can ask from a 14 year old who is overseas competing and made the final of her skateboarding event. Surely we should be celebrating this amazing achievement rather than focusing on what didn’t happen.
At times we can all really feel the weight of expectation placed upon us by either ourselves or others. When we fail to meet that expectation we can believe that we have somehow failed and are not worthy. At times like this it is important to be reminded that nothing in the world can diminish our worth to God. Nothing that we have done or left undone will make God look differently on us for we are forever held in the scope of God’s generous, extravagant love.
I wonder if, even when we see ourselves as God’s beloved children, we need to remember that whatever the circumstances that come our way, we don’t let them diminish God’s light from shining in and through us.
Blessings – Rev Heather Hon (she/her).