Inspire: Digging down to the depths

After an all around tiring and not great day, I realized that there had been something incredible missing - a true fight of mind versus body. Walking into the gym at the time that I usually slide into bed, I prayed that this run would be enough to change the verdict of the day. The last thing you want when you take a stab against the flesh is for it to come back with a reluctance toward activity.

If the Olympics could be on every week of the year, I wonder if we would perhaps have a nation of fitter, more focused average Joes? The ability of incredible athletes to inspire and remind us of a spark that is deep routed in all of us is nothing less than delicious. Hopping onto the treadmill, I happened upon the Men's Olympic Triathlon just as the top contenders were transitioning from their bikes onto the track. The commentators then proceeded for the next 25 minutes to make predictions about how our own triathlete superhero, Simon Whitfield would fare in this field of intense competition. Whitfield was sitting in and around 13-14th place for much of the run until the better runners shook off the pack and Whitfield ran with them into 4th position for most of the remainder of the race. It was a gruesome race to watch as Whitfield's shoulders looked tense and like any typical Canadian, I started to come to grips that our superhero Whitfield, (gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics) maybe just didn't have it in him. It was also gruesome because as these super runners started to make their way into the last 2.5 km, I had to support Simon by increasing my treadmill speeds all the more as well.

For a while, it seemed as if he was going to accept a 4th place finish. By any standards, this would have been excellent....4th in the world! I suppose that the reason that we all started to hope however is that he wasn't letting the three leaders take off. His face also didn't look like he was giving it all. Did we dare to hope that there could be more? The threesome from Spain, New Zealand and Germany started to pull away from Whitfield and despite my cheering on the treadmill, I started to concede that maybe it was just too big for him, and for us, too much of a dream. The commentators certainly didn't have much hope.

Then, just when the three would-be medal winners started to make their plunge toward the finish, Whitfield pulled out his heart and showed it to the world. He threw down his hat, dug down as deep as humanly possible and not only made up time but surpassed each of the front runners. It was a leap of faith that we yearn, hunger and desperately need to see in this life. We need to know that it's ok to dream big, even at the risk of failing big. Ultimately, Whitfield was passed at the end by Germany's Jan Frodeno. Whitfield had truly physically exerted everything of himself and had come up short. Post-race, commenting on his seemingly impossible move from 4th to the lead, Whitfield said "I thought there's no time like the present. I tried to make it a battle of pure willpower. I gave it everything I had."

What more can we ever ask for in a champion, or in ourselves? All we can do is all we can do. But what if like Whitfield, there is more in that mental/physical/emotional reserve than what the world or we ourselves think? What if like Whitfield, we can do better than a 4th place finish? Will our faith carry us through if we take a courageous step forward? (rom 8:28)

Will we risk it all at the chance of finding out?