Well, I wonder if you enjoyed the Olympic Games as much as I did? I am writing this letter during the week after the Olympic Games ended and am waiting in eager anticipation for the Paralympics to begin. Of course not everyone wanted the Games and there was a great deal of negative speculation in the run up to the event – it cost too much, it wouldn’t be ready on time, the travel infrastructure wouldn’t be able to cope, etc, etc. None of which proved to be true.
Scepticism and downright opposition to the games has a long history. According to legend the Olympics were founded by Heracles one of the god Zeus’ sons. The earliest written record of the Games comes from the year 776 BC when it consisted of one race, “The Stadion” and was won by a cook from the town of Elis who ran naked. Eventually the games developed into multi sporting activities which were organised on a four year cycle. The various sports were seen as being an attractive way of getting men fit for military service. Various Greek thinkers and some physicians however opposed the Games. In the ancient world the Games finally met their end when in 393AD the Christian Roman Emperor Theodosius I abolished them because he thought their Pagan influence was contrary to Christian belief.
There is a certain irony in the fact that the Games were revived in their modern form through the efforts of a French Aristocrat from a devoutly Roman Catholic family, one Pierre de Coubertin. He too had a military interest for he believed that the French Soldiers who were roundly defeated by the Germans in the Franco Prussian War failed not because of lack of military knowhow but because they were physically unfit. At first his attempts to revive the ancient Games did not meet with any success but finally after much persistence in 1894 he brought together 79 delegates from 9 countries and the modern Olympics got off the ground.
There is now much talk about the legacy of the Games – will anything of lasting value come out of it? St Paul of course knew the ancient Games in their Roman form. Unlike Theodosius I he could see much good in the Games and used images drawn from the Games as an illustration when writing to encourage young Christians. Paul reminds us of the dedication and commitment of the athletes who compete for what he calls “a fading crown”, a crown of laurel leaves presented to the winner by the Emperor. Christians, says the Apostle, run a race through life for an eternal crown and therefore should be just as dedicated and committed. In thinking about his own Christian experience he speaks of not having yet obtained the prize but seeking to push on to obtain his goal, eternal life through Christ. Athletes have to overcome many things and endure much pain to obtain their prize; the same is true of Christians. We have to overcome the indifference and growing hostility of a secular world. We have to overcome our own weaknesses of character and the discouragement that comes when we feel we have failed. But Christ has run this race before us and knows what it takes, He, like a faithful coach, runs with us and in us until the race is won and God says to us, “Well done!” If we, inspired by all these magnificent competitors, can run our Christian race with commitment and dedication then that will be one lasting legacy.
All the best – Fr Mick