A prophetic witness of Olympian proportions

Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald

Jarrod McKenna, our energetic peace-loving peace-making Aussie, has written over here of a great Olympic story. It is the story of a prophetic and public moment in the lives of three Christian men. Two of these men were black Americans. The third, a white Australian. The white Australian was Peter Norman.

What Jarrod didn't mention was that when Peter died in 2006, the solidarity of the three men that was so publicly and irrevocably evident at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 was evident once again. Tommie Smith and John Carlos were here in Melbourne for Peter's funeral and they helped to carry his coffin.

Dear Reader, you have no idea how much this meant to us in Australia. That such athletic comrades from almost forty years ago should do such honour by coming half-way around the world will not be easily forgotten by Aussies.

To-night, I will watch the opening ceremony of the historic Beijing Olympics. I am a great admirer - in spite of things that get in the road sometimes - of the Chinese, their history, their culture and above all the Tao Te Ching. I am conscious of Australian's long involvement with the Chinese people. But if, like our Prime Minister, I could be a forthright friend: there are issues of justice in China and some of its relationships which can be difficult to overlook. Some people, perhaps, at these Olympics will feel strongly enough to make a public - and possibly prophetic - stand.

I pray that if this is the case that such people will remember the time forty years ago when three men decided to make their stand: representing two very different cultures these men really stood for something. The speedy and gentle Australian did not raise a fist. He wore a badge and, with Christ in his heart and his motivation, stood beside his black brothers. After all, Jesus said, where two or three are gathered in my name: there I am in the midst of them.

~~~
When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

Queenslander - Queenslander - Queenslander

Israel Folau (Melbourne Storm) in action for Queensland

Photo: Courier Mail

We did it! The Maroons did it! We beat the Cockroaches and we did it on their home turf of ANZ Stadium, Sydney. 16-10.


The final Origin 2008 was magnificent. I don't think Queensland has ever put up a more consistent, fast-moving defence ever. A commentator in the second-half (a NSW one, needless to say) said that Queensland had no Plan B after Scott Prince's broken arm and other injuries. This, mind you, at a time when Queensland had it well over NSW in terms of possession. I agree that there might have been little evidence of a Plan B - but we saw a well co-ordinated team aggressive and speedy in defence and with the ball in their hands more often than not.


Ah, well - Queenslanders never have expected objectivity from Cockroach commentators have they?


Miss Eagle does not want to diminish the efforts of anyone in the Queensland side but, as an expatriate North Queenslander she wants to send big bouquets and thank-yous to Johnathan Thurston, Sam Thaiday, the wounded Scotty Prince, and - my hero - the beautiful Billy Slater who scored the deciding try on a set-up by JT in the second half. Breathtaking!


And - to all of you who wonder what the fuss is about with the State of Origin series - go read my uncle's book:

Origin: Rugby League's Greatest Contest 1980-2002 by Jack Gallaway

~~~

When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

Presumption of innocence? The cases of Pratt and Cousins

Photo: The Age

Tim Lane in to-day's The Age highlights the treatment within the AFL of Richard Pratt, who has now stepped down from the role of President of Carlton Football Club, and compares it with the treatment of Ben Cousins.

See previous post on Pratt here

~~~

When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

Life's a ball-game

JEWISH LESSONS FROM THE WORLD CUP

Large, round object. Move it towards the goal; get it through the doorway. Outmaneuver those big, burly guys trying to stop you, trying to take it from you. Be quick. Use your feet.

Sounds familiar? Sounds like my life.

"From everything that one sees or hears about," taught Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, "one should derive a lesson in the service of the Creator."

Perhaps the most popular sport on earth today is the game of soccer (otherwise known as football). As is the case with every phenomenon in G-d's world, this game can serve as a model and metaphor for our mission in life.

The objective of the game is to move a ball into a "goal" or "gate." This would be fairly easy to achieve were it not for the fact that facing the players is an opposing team which will do everything in its power to prevent them from scoring a "goal." But then again, if there were no opposing team, the full extent of the players' skill and power would never be actualised. For such is the nature of the human being: our most potent potentials are awakened only by challenge and adversity.

The ball can be maneuvered with various parts of the player's body, but the game is played primarily with the feet. The game requires much skill, but no less important is the player's speed-much depends on whether a player can outrun his opponent and move more quickly than he.

What can all this teach us regarding our daily endeavors and inner lives?

The earth is a sphere - a fact noted nearly two thousand years ago by the Jerusalem Talmud.The objective of life is to move this "ball" into the shaar haMelech - the gate of the King. By fulfilling the mitzvot of the Torah, we move the world toward the goal of its creation.

At our every step, we are challenged by a formidable opposing team - composed of our own negative traits and habits and a host of external foes - who obstruct our advance toward the goal and seek to move the ball in the opposite direction. But it is the perpetual presence of this opposition that provokes our deepest potentials and maximizes our achievements.

A key factor in achieving victory are speed. The most skillful player will be quite ineffective if his movements are slow, plodding, and unenthusiastic. Similarly, a person's life must be animated with alacrity and joy in order that his deeds should translate into scored goals and a true impact upon his world.

The other important lesson is never to underestimate the power of the feet. To advance the ball towards its goal, we make use of the full array of our faculties, from "head" to "foot" - our minds, our capacity for feeling, our talents and our physical energy. But our most important faculty is the "feet," which represents our capacity for action and "mindless" obedience. Although it constitutes the "lowest" and least sophisticated of our faculties, it is our unequivocal commitment to the divine will and the physical action of the mitzvot that has the greatest impact upon our world and is the most powerful force for its advancement and ultimate realisation.

By Yanki Tauber; Chabad.org

via The Central Synagogue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you can do nothing else: bear witness.

What on earth! For Pete's sake......!

What does The Age think it's doing? The non-sporting but active Miss Eagle didn't have a clue there was something called the WoodVale Atlantic Rowing Race. The Age has taken the trouble to tell us about this because of the Australian who has become the first Aussie to row solo across the Atlantic. What gets Miss E., dear Reader, is how The Age describes him:

An overweight chain-smoker and aquaphobic has beat an infection and the competition to be the first solo Australian to row across the Atlantic - a 76-day journey across 5,500km of open seas.

The article also describes him as a 'desk-jockey'. Then there is a whole litany of stuff which dwells on doubtful competence for such a task. In fact, one has visions of a "couch potato" although there is no mention of horizontal TV viewing.

But take a look at this hunk of spunk!

Now click over here for vital statistics: Pete Collett weights 95kg spread over a 6'3" frame.

He is very sporty and a very experienced seaman and water sportsman. He even did without the smoking en route. The one thing I will hand him full marks for is overcoming cellulitis on the trip. Miss Eagle is susceptible to recurring bouts of cellulitis (although Melbourne's climate seems to provide protection - no episodes since living here) and they are dreadful. The first time I was in hospital for two weeks unable to walk unaided. The next time I was hospitalised for a week. Then I had the good fortune to come under the ministrations of a GP who could treat the infection immediately, get on top of it, and prevent hospitalisation. Our hunk of spunk hero could not get the usual IV drugs, ate everything in the medicine chest, and overcame it! No unhealthy person could do that, in my view!

Congratulations, Pete, and please donate to his good cause over here.