There is a wonderful story of an incident that occurred during one of the Special Olympics.
Nine children lined up for the 100-yard dash. The gun sounded and the race was off. But only a few yards into the race, one of the children fell and began to cry. For some reason these challenged children did not understand the world’s concept of competition and getting ahead and taking advantage when a competitor was down.
The other eight children stopped running and came back to their fallen comrade. A young girl with Down’s Syndrome kissed him and brushed him off. The children lifted him up together, arm in arm, they ran over the finish line. The audience rose to their feet in applause. There was not one winner, there were nine winners.
For a fleeting moment these children showed us what the Kingdom of God is like. They challenged the world’s concept that first place is everything.
The world says defeating, even destroying one’s competitor is the way to go. The world says that competition and success is an indisputable law. Competition is forever touted as the way to live.
On Holy Thursday at the Last Supper, Jesus got down on his knees and washed the feet of his disciples. And the next day, Good Friday, Jesus challenged the world’s concept of power when he offered up his life on the cross.
Life is not a competition.
Life is about helping and inspiring others,
So we can each reach our full potential
And then spend our eternity enjoying the Lord together.
How does your idea of competition compare with the nine children in the Special Olympics race? Why do you say that?
