Dear Friends,
On
Friday of this week, the eyes of the world turn to Beijing for the Winter
Olympic Games. Some of us will be glued to the TV as medal counters. We want to
see who is best in the world. We want to hear personal stories of failure and
success, pain overcome, victories unexpected. We admire and honor their
dedication and their self - control.
All
that dedication can push athlete to make some poor choices, for example the use
of performance enhancing drugs, as we see sometimes when medal winners are
tested.
Where
there is unlimited potential, it comes as no surprise that the potential for disordered desire also arises.
The
Greek world, long before Christ, knew of self – control and fostered it not only among athletes and the
military but among educators and civic leaders. Do the Christian Scriptures themselves advocate self-
control as a way of following Christ?
In Galatians 5.22-25, where Paul
lists the fruits of the Holy Spirit, he does include self-control. Does he mean
the same thing as the Greeks do when he invites us to understand self - control
as a gift of the Holy Spirit? No, he doesn’t. Paul tells us that as followers
of Christ, we must be other- centered, to “be renewed in the spirit of our
minds and to clothe ourselves with this new self (Ephesians 4.22-24).”
Maybe
self-control isn’t a word that speaks to us today? Maybe the idea would be more
intelligible to us if we were to use the word integrity – that is being
who we say we are and making our choices about our behavior based on our
values and our commitments.
We
cannot cultivate integrity by ourselves. Followers of Christ soak ourselves in
all that nourishes our integrity when we come to the Table of the Lord. In
these COVID days, some people choose not to come, even virtually. Yet at the
Eucharist, we are in the presence of God who draws everything toward life. We
are in the presence of people who struggle mightily with believing, who have
known great pain, great sorrow, great love. We are in the presence our deepest
selves, perceived only in a mirror dimly.
Integrity
doesn’t deepen automatically at the Table of the Lord. We do not overcome
self-centeredness or addictive habits automatically at the Table of the Lord.
What happens can happen only if we are open to the Spirit. Perhaps we perceive
nothing different at the Table or as we leave. But what do we know?
As the
Olympics begin, enjoy. Enjoy the thrill of watching and cheering the well-honed
skills that bring the athletes to Beijing. But somewhere in some corner of your
being, remember your own call – not necessarily to athletic prowess, but to an
integrity that honors God, serves others and makes you whole.
~Sister Joan Sobala
