From the Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
There is a tendency in our results-driven world to think that the real issues at stake are the prizes that we strive to achieve.
The late African-American Olympian, Jesse Owens, once said, “The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at.”
If anyone would know it is this man.
At the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Owens had to face the pressure of Hitler’s Nazi regime and his fixation on the Aryan race.
The African-American athlete simply did not fit into Hitler’s warped ideal.
Not only did he not win the favour of Adolf Hitler, he also was not invited to the White House after the Olympics by his own president, Franklin Roosevelt, and later, Harry Truman.
When interviewed at that time he stated that the snub from his country was worse than what he endured at the hands of the Nazi leader.
Nevertheless, Jesse Owens won those inward battles and that led to his outward victories: 4 gold medals and 2 world records.
Jesse Owens personified the true character of the Olympic athlete, striving for athletic excellence on a level playing field, free from the prejudices of race and politics.
I think the Lord would have us aspire to this same ideal.
