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“All I know most surely about morality and obligation I owe to football”,

Albert Camus

Psalm 21

Source of victory

The king rejoices in your strength, LORD. How great is his joy in the victories you give! Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendour and majesty. Psalm 21:1,5

David was quick to acknowledge God as the source of his strength, his success and his victories. It is good for us to recognize our blessings, our opportunities and our talents as gifts from God.

I have to confess, though, that when I hear an athlete say “God made me win”, I feel uncomfortable. If God made one athlete win, then has he also made all the others lose? It seems better to acknowledge God as the source of talent for every athlete in the race rather than just the one who won.

Why does one athlete win and another lose? I am more comfortable with seeing this as part of being human. It is about who got the tactics right on the day or who executed the race best. Sometimes it is about who worked hardest in training or who wanted it most. And it is all part of a process. Roger Bannister who was the first man to run a mile under 4 minutes (in 1954) said that had he won the Olympic gold in 1952 he would have retired. Losing in the Olympic final was hard but bit give him the hunger to go on to the world record.

The old poem, IF, might help you get the necessary perspective
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
Rudyard Kipling c 1895

Do your best to win but thank God for victory or defeat.

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