We Can Not Just Watch From Our Sofas…

I, like many people, have been swept up in Olympic fever. I am not a sports viewer at all – my husband repeatedly tries to get me to watch baseball games and football games (although I can appreciate a good superbowl now and then), but when he turned on the Michael Phelps races I couldn’t keep my eyes off of the screen. Several crew races, diving competitions, and men’s tumbling matches later…I am officially hooked. But as this is a blog generally related to thinking about how history will record what's happening now I could not help but send a shout out to my good friend Audrey.

In addition to being one of the most creative and talented writers that I have been blessed to know, Audrey is the queen of throwing a good party, which is something that I miss terribly now that she has moved away from the Northeast. Her devotion to the Boston sports teams is absolute, but when it comes to the Olympics Audrey has kept her eyes on the “prize;” the most precious prize of all -- human rights.

So it came as no surprise that it is she who has consistently, throughout the games, sent e-mail articles and commentary that highlights the continued sufferings of the Chinese people. It is shameful how China’s repression has been tolerated so long. Can the image of a demonstrator standing before a tank be so easily forgotten, swept away by product placement and spectacle? Right now, people in China are being imprisoned, tortured, and killed for exercising their God-given rights; rights we take advantage of…the right to religion, free speech, and assembly.

We must never forget…

Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

James 1:23-24 NIV

Forgetting is easier that one might think. Indulge an alternate universe for a moment. Let’s imagine a reality where Afghanistan is a very powerful state. In 2021 a Kabul run by the Taliban has been deemed economically open enough to participate freely and socially on the world stage. It has been awarded the summer games by the Olympic committee. Would the glittering banners and the roar of crowds be enough to blot out the image of the towers in flames?

Just a few weeks ago, I walked through the Anne Frank House and seethed over how the Holocaust was allowed to happen. The pain and horror of the loss of one little girl among so many millions, brought me to tears and I felt as if I would never forget. Just a week later, I sat down on my couch and turned on the television, a new Olympic match was just beginning…in the split second between the enthusiastic commentaries and almost super human feats of athleticism my reflection passed across the screen…

I had already forgotten…

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27 NIV