Hold on. More about the gold medal winner later in this post. But let’s read a bit of history first. All Americans are breathlessly, joyfully watching the Olympics these past days. I am riveted as much as possible, and my sisters are as well. I think there are a couple reasons why we should honor and support the Olympics.
First, the athletes are human beings who show us that our God-given bodies can do extraordinary things if given the training and time to achieve glory.
The Greeks knew this, and they initiated the Olympics for that reason in honor of Zeus. We believe in a monotheistic God, a Creator who wove together all of creation from the bounty of nature to the web in which we humans find ourselves connected to all of creation and strengthened by this creation to praise Him and glorify Him in whatever we do. And that might mean sport – where the challenges are set for us, and we aspire to meet them.
I do not mind that these athletes spend a good deal of their time practicing and training their skills daily – sometimes for many hours and at great sacrifice. Why? Because it shows all of us what the body, created by God, can do. And it inspires us to do something similar even if it is just to walk a mile a day or join a gym. I believe this is a way of praising God. We are using the gift he gave us to its maximum. Perhaps that is why I find it a joy to use my Planet Fitness membership and to walk my dog daily and do some hiking on my own!!
Some scholars believe the Olympics began around 776, BC. But all believe they were to happen every four years in honor of Zeus. Rules included no team sports, (probably to highlight the individual achievements), no medals, no women. The name Olympics came from Olympia, a town in Hleia, the birthplace of the Games.
Now for the Gold Medal winner I live with. Years ago, I was a fan of Diana Munz, a gold, silver, and bronze winner in swimming at the Olympics in 2000 and 2004. Diana was a student of mine in college, and I worked out a curriculum for her to do on her own when she was in training for the Olympics that year. It was then that Sister Helen Therese, my housemate, and friend of many years, told me she had won a gold medal in ‘some kind of Olympics.’ I once saw a photograph of her jumping hurdles, but she never explained it to me.
I thought the Olympics she participated in were maybe a local fun thing to do as in a city festival or a parish carnival.
Last week, she produced her medal for me. I have included it on this post. She remembers that she qualified to be part of Junior Olympics in 1946 through her Slovak nationality organization of young athletes called Sokol. She had been a prize winner in local nationality competitions in track and field. So, she won the position to start at the Junior Olympics in 1946. Now, at 91 years of age, she recalls the event with fondness. She was part of a national group of very young athletes from all over the country but some of the details have faded like where the event was held. She thinks it was in Cleveland, a big deal for her as she came from Lorain, Ohio, a smaller city west of Cleveland. She remembers that she won her gold in the 100-meter dash and another award (perhaps a silver medal) for the high jump contest. She was also a champion hurdler in the Sokol contests. She was only 14 years old. So, I’m thinking, wow! a Sha’Carri Richardson 78 years earlier!!!
Junior Olympics are not the training grounds for the major Olympics. But somehow Sister Helen got accepted to participate. There are no savvy scouts in the organization looking for talent to move into the International Olympics. Sister Helen’s parents were immigrants from Slovakia without money or any way to influence potential sponsors for their daughter to enter the International Olympics trials. But Helen could shine in the athletic contests that Sokol and Junior Olympics held all over the United States. I understand that many newly arrived immigrants of all nationalities had organized their own athletic contests providing a sense of achievement and success for their children. Many such nationality contests still exist today.
Last week Sister Helen watched, almost with reverence, as athletes participated from tiny countries saying, “I’m rooting for them.” But she is totally enamored of stars like Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles. “If things were different long ago, maybe I could have been there,” she said thoughtfully.
Reflection
Don’t overlook the stars in your midst. Pay attention to who does well in any sport in your family or among friends. Encourage them. Point out to children how inspiring good sportsmanship is. Indicate how losing is only momentary, and one gets up and tries again. Overcoming obstacles is a major part of championships. We witness all of this in the Games; let’s be sensitive to witness it in daily life.
Sport is for fun. On higher levels, the Olympics and professional team
athletes show us how to strive for the best and never give up. I learned more about Sister Helen through her experience of sports. Her misty-eyed attention to the Games brought back happy memories of her own achievement and maybe a wisp, a flash, a fleeting thought of what could have been.
The author of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Scriptures wrote: “I have observed the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the brave…” Chapter 9:11. Saint Paul uses the Olympic metaphor in questioning the Galatians’ weakness in keeping the faith: “You were running the good race. Who kept you from obeying the truth?” Gal. 5:7. And in Hebrews: “…let us throw off everything that weighs us down and the sins that distract us and with perseverance run the race ahead of us…”
God bless all of you my Anonymous Angels and faithful and new readers.
In All Things Charity 
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