I’m chuckling to myself as I write this as once again my wife is right. Elizabeth had suggested a few weeks ago while we watched the Olympics together that I write about them for our next blog/newsletter.  I of course being the resident writer in the family immediately dismissed it as too obvious and responded that others have already explored the topic ad nauseam. I wondered out loud if people at some point would burnout on the whole topic and be put off by a newsletter revisiting the subject matter. Then something significant transpired.  I found myself beginning to personally get intrigued and subsequently emotionally engaged by the “back stories” of a number of gold medal winning athletes. While the world was celebrating their incredible athletic accomplishments, I was right there with everyone else applauding them for their achievement. They were truly champions, the best of the best.

What got my attention though on a whole different level, were the stories that emerged during interviews that came long after the medals had been hung around their necks, the national anthem played and the obligatory press conferences completed. Once the adrenaline rush had subsided, we started to get to know the athletes as people not just athletic champions. What came to light for me was as interesting as their accomplishments on the big stage.  Sadly, in our shallow media driven culture, which is built on paper-thin facades, “who we are” becomes defined by how we look and what spectacular feat(s) we accomplish. I was captivated by who they were away from the stage and spotlights. I was gripped by their stories and the journey they each took to reach this critical point in their lives.

Michael Phelps

While Michael Phelps will go down in history as debatably the greatest Olympian of all time, most people will never take the time to discover the “story within the story”.  History will define him by his eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics and the fourteen gold medals he’s won over two Olympic Games. What got my attention though was the story that came out during an interview that Bob Costas of NBC did with Michael’s mother Debbie. After the euphoria had died down she sat with Bob to discuss their challenging journey to reach this point at the apex of the Olympics.

Debbie is a Baltimore, MD educator and as any mother would be very proud of her son’s accomplishments. What I found compelling was that for her, Michael’s “accomplishments” were more than just the eight gold medals he won this year.  She shared very candidly how Michael struggled from early childhood with both “Attention Deficit” and “Hyperactivity Disorder”.  As a child, he had to deal with the stigma of being called “undisciplined” and “disruptive” by those who didn’t understand. Adding insult to injury were his protruding ears that the other kids relentlessly made fun of and continually flicked with their fingers. As he began to develop into adolescence, his awkward and gawky appearance of his too large hands and too big feet only added to his already painful struggle for finding any sense of self-worth. The pool became his refuge from the ridicule and the shame of his peers. Soon he was leaving those painful taunts behind in the wake of his powerful swimming stroke.

There are times when the laws of nature and the laws of the spiritual world overlap and are in harmony. In this case it’s the universal truth that “resistance builds strength”.  While we confidently apply the principle to our exercise or training regimes, when it comes to the realm of the spirit we are resistant to resistance. At times, I wonder how much of our suffering that we attribute to being negative spiritual warfare is in fact the hand of God attempting to mature us? In talking about Jesus, the writer of the Hebrews said, “In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.” (Heb 2:10) In other words it was God (not the devil) that was behind the suffering that Jesus endured on His journey towards being prepared to give His life in the greatest act of love and sacrifice the world has ever witnessed.

The bible recounts the incredible story of Joseph who went through a painful struggle and suffered immensely on his journey to find his place in God’s purpose. Not only was he ridiculed and rejected by his own brothers, they took it one step further and degraded him by selling him as a slave. How dejected he must have been sitting there under the stars while bound in chains. A few years later, he was rejected and shamed again, this time by Potiphar and his wife who falsely accused him. As this point he must have been downright depressed at the lack of justice and the fact that it seemed that God had turned a deaf ear to his cries.  I’m sure being punished for something he didn’t do just ate at him while in prison. To add insult to injury, after graciously helping others while incarcerated, they each forgot him and he languished there alone for a few more years. I’m sure at this point most of us in that same situation would have been despairing life itself.  Suddenly, everything changed overnight. All that he had suffered up to that point was in fact preparation in molding him for a specific moment in time. He subsequently had to carry the weight of a nation and the lives of millions on his shoulders. As history bears witness, he stood strong in that hour, though few would understand until years later what he was really up too. In the end, he saved two nations using some very unconventional polices and procedures.

Henry Cejudo

Henry Cejudo was the gold medal winner in Freestyle Wrestling at 121 lbs. At age 21, he is the youngest gold medal winner in US Olympic wrestling history. What makes this young man’s story so compelling is that he is the son of undocumented immigrants living in the slums of Los Angeles. His mother Nelly had six children, four with his father, Jorge, who was in and out of prison until dying of heart problems at age forty-four last year. Henry never saw his father after the age of four.  The family was miserably poor, at times moving from apartment to apartment under the cover of night because they lacked rent money. His mother worked several jobs at a time, stealing home for a few hours to make sure her family wasn't in trouble. Sometimes they stayed with friends, sometimes with relatives always sleeping six or seven to a room in bad neighborhoods. Always, though, someone was there to offer a helping hand.

Henry and his older brother Angel emulated the pro wrestlers they saw on TV and the Mexican boxers they revered. As kids they entered a youth wrestling program in Phoenix. Angel was the first ace, winning four high school state titles, and Henry did the same. Neither liked studying, so when Angel was invited to the Olympic training center, Henry tagged along and won his last two state titles while living there. His bed at the training center was the first that was ever his own. Within a year, younger brother was the rising star. Henry recounted that Angel "Made it tough on me, with a few knuckle sandwiches along the way. But he's the reason I'm here. We won this gold together."

What a contrast this story is to the typical suburban child whose athletic activities are supported by a father who covers the cost of uniforms and equipment. Or, a “Soccer Mom” who lovingly shuttles children endlessly from one activity to another making sure they each have all the nourishment and moral support they need.  There are a number of interesting questions that this story raises. Are our children stronger in character by what they have or by what they don’t have?  Do we make it too easy for them? Why doesn’t opportunity guarantee success?  Why isn’t potential always realized?

Henry’s story is a reminder for me of how God chooses people for his purposes.  Ironically, He doesn’t always choose the obvious. In the case of David, he was the
youngest of eight sons of Jesse and the least likely to be King of Israel. God told Samuel when looking at his older brother Eliab, “Do not consider his appearance…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7) This is a huge statement and one that bears careful consideration in our western media driven culture. Never has the Christian community needed the gift of discernment more than in this hour. There are so many false images being marketed to us both within and without our community. Discernment is seeing life from God’s perspective.

Stephanie Brown-Trafton

Stephanie Brown-Trafton was a medal winner for the U.S. in the women’s discus event. She did what no US woman has been able to do in 75 years by winning her event in Beijing. She accomplished what few of her more heralded compatriots did which was winning a gold medal. At 6-foot-4, 225 lbs Trafton wasn't fawned over by NBC. Kobe Bryant and the US men’s basketball team weren’t spotted in the stands cheering for her. Nor will she be headlining any post-Olympic tours. Her story is a remarkable one but because she doesn’t make the “beauty” grade that the image conscience media is so enslaved too, few will ever hear or see her story. Personally, I think it’s a sad statement and one that sends a horrible message to young girls and women all across the world. What is real beauty and who defines it?

Stephanie’s Olympic aspirations started as a child while watching gymnast Mary Lou Retton compete at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. She was captivated by Mary Lou’s athleticism and gracefulness and how she became America’s darling after winning the Women’s All-around in Gymnastics. She soon set her sights on becoming the next Mary Lou. But along the way something happened that forever altered her life. She grew to 6 ft in Junior High School. Suddenly, not only did she not have the body for gymnastics, she was overwhelmed by feelings of shame and low self-esteem. “I hunched my shoulders so I could try and be like the other girls" she recounted. By society’s standard, she was no longer beautiful. Who would ever love her? Who would ever find her attractive?

With gymnastics no longer an option, Stephanie discovered track and field and specifically the discus which she soon excelled at. She later attended college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where she met her husband Jerry and continued to set records. After graduating, she’s worked as an environmental engineer and continued her training.  In 2004 she made the Olympic team that competed in Greece but didn’t get out of the qualifying rounds.  The last four years she’s trained without a coach and qualified third at this year’s Olympic trial. Her gold medal win was totally unexpected by everyone but her.

Her personal journey to find self-esteem raises a provoking question. What is beauty really?  In our popular culture beauty is defined by the media that projects their image of it on the rest of us. Tragically, it’s simply a paper-thin façade. It’s clear that they define beauty as pretty, attractive or even likable and we are all left to be graded or compared to their standard. Ironically, popular culture increasingly confuses the artificial for the real, the pretty for the beautiful, and the untrue for the true.  True beauty emanates from God and He defines beauty by that which is simultaneously the good and the true and the real. The struggle for what is truly beautiful began in the Garden of Eden, where our ancestors were attracted to the forbidden fruit at least in part because it was attractive to the eyes.  True beauty is found in us when the character of Jesus emanates out of us.