A Message from the Rector

I’m loving the Olympics. I’m hooked. Truth is, I always have been, ever since Mexico 1968, when as a VERY, VERY, VERY young boy (I mean INCREDIBLY young) I first saw the Games on TV. (I wish I could remember watching England win the soccer World Cup two years earlier, but I can’t. I just have to take people’s word for it.)

Being British is a painful calling in life, especially when it comes to sport. As an Englishman I spend much time apologizing to people around the world for past acts of imperialism. Modern international sporting events are the chance for those countries to exact a small measure of justice for Britain’s past sins. And many nations relish this opportunity to humble the once proud empire – thanks India (cricket), South Africa (rugby), the US (golf), Australia (swimming), Kenya (long distance running), Jamaica (sprinting) … I could go on listing former British colonies who now whip the Brits in athletic competition – even at games we invented.

So, let me declare my pride that the UK still rules the world in one sporting category: sitting down. Yup. Sitting down. The Brits are brilliant at it, and the Games in Paris are proving it once again. As I write, GB has won three gold medals at Paris, and 11 medals overall. All of those three golds are in ‘sitting down events’. Think about it—what does Britain win medals at? Cycling, rowing, sailing, equestrian, and canoeing. Seriously—the events in which competitors SIT DOWN has always been a rich source of British glory. It’s just a pity that Formula 1 isn’t an Olympic sport, or sipping tea on a comfy sofa in front of a nice fire.

I think the Brits are on to something here. Why waste all that energy running (I’m looking at you, Usain Bolt) or swimming (yup, you, Michael Phelps) or doing handstands (you, Simone Biles) when you can win medals without the inconvenience of ever leaving your seat? At long last, the British nation can proffer some advice to the rest of the world: wear yourself out running, jumping, swimming, and throwing. We’ll just sit back (literally) and listen to ‘God Save the King’ echo around the stadium.

If only the Christian race were just a matter of sitting around. Don’t get me wrong, there IS sitting to be done – and kneeling – in prayer, scripture reading, and meditating on God’s love. But it’s a pretty malnourished Christian life if it stops there. The writer of Hebrews in the New Testament gets it: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

According to the author. This life is a race, and not a sitting-down one. It’s a run. It’s a run that requires perseverance, that demands we unburden ourselves of unnecessary baggage, that has as its role model a man who was crucified. May God give us the will and the resolve to get off the couch (spiritually speaking) and run.