We all fall down

"the race is not to the swift"

Ecclesiastes 9:11

The Olympics are returning in just a few months.  I'm a big fan of the Olympics.  I love to try ~ within reason ~ to watch everything that's televised.  I love the obscure events that never get the publicity as do the more popular sports.  I love the back stories of the athletes ~ finding out what they had to go through to achieve greatness in their sport.  And I love the surprising moments... the images and people that we never heard of before the Games, but whose stories will stick with us forever. 

And one of those stories, is the story of Mary Decker.

Mary Decker was a runner; a heavy favorite to win the 3000 meter race in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.  But she and another runner collided, and Decker lost her balance and fell to the track.  The photo taken at that time, is one of the great sports photos of Olympics.

photo credit: David Burnett (Contact Press Images)

I think the reason the photo is so striking is because of the look of anger and indignation in her face.  Which is understandable.  You put all your efforts and hopes into something and then it is gone... well, the emotions are many.

Here's another one:

AFP/Getty Images

I'm really not sure which of those came first, but the expressions are so different, it fascinates me.  This one looks more like pain and disappointment.

This one is as she's leaving the arena:

credit:  Tony Duffy/Allsport

You really feel for her, don't you?

More than once, Scripture compares the Christian life to a race.  It's an apt comparison.  The exhausting effort to achieve forward motion, while needing all parts of your body to work in sync ~ your heart, your arms and legs, your lungs, and of course, your brain.

We all go down, whether from a collision with someone else, or tripping on an obstacle of our own foolishness or carelessness.   And if we're trying to run a race that pleases Him, we are disappointed when we fall.  Or annoyed, or frustrated, or indignant, or in pain or all of the above...

And we should be.  I'm encouraging that.  'Cause if you stumble in your walk with the Lord, and your reaction is "oh well," then you need to check your motivation.

No one ever really decided if Mary Decker's fall was her fault, or the fault of the other runner, or a combination of both.  In the same way, we might not always be able to pinpoint what caused us to stumble.  But it should affect us so strongly that we want to try our hardest to make sure it doesn't happen again.  

~ "let us lay aside every weight, 

and the sin which so easily ensnares us, 

and let us run with endurance 

  the race that is set before us" ~

Hebrews 12:1