The True Character of Olympians, of Christians

“To me, we must learn to spell the word RESPECT. We must respect the rights and properties of our fellowman. And then learn to play the game of life, as well as the game of athletics, according to the rules of society. If you can take that and put it into practice in the community in which you live, then, to me you have won the greatest championship.” Jesse Owens

Athletics especially going the distance of the marathon is one of the best educators of Christian traits. St. Paul describes discipleship as the good race the wreath of  glory. Conditioning especially paired with an openness to prayer and God stomps out (slothfulness, despair, lust for power and idle talk)  learned helplessness and learned avoidance. The Christian code of conduct is enforced naturally with a good training mindset: Charity, humility patience and love.  Dedication, persistence, endurance, loyalty, perseverance and stamina all Biblical principles.

We are not running for physical prowess that would yield only limited short term benefits we are in effect using our bodies stressing them and engaging them in our spiritual work actively. We are taking the abstract and making it material. The abstract is operationalized and self-evident. Once we have a firm working knowledge of these principles and skill set we will easily integrate and assimilate our strengths into core functioning and approach to living.
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