The game show ‘Wipeout’ has contestants racing against one
another on an obstacle course, and depending on the show, they participate either
as individuals, or on teams of two. During a recent episode one contestant was
trying to get his partner out from under some pressure so he told her to just
take her time. From the announcer’s booth one of the hosts quipped, “Yeah right…it’s not like this is a race or
anything.”
I had to laugh because if I were a contestant I too would have
slipped into the role of being an encourager by telling my teammates to take
their time and just do their best.
I can almost hear the Apostle Paul groan, “Do you not know that in a race all the
runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the
prize.” (1Cor 9:24 NIV)
1 comment:
Gail;
-----Sometimes I am amazed at how your sense and mine align. And I think this time Paul’s aligns as well. “Taking your time” seems so counter intuitive to running a race. If "your time" was all the time there is, then you’re not really racing. But if “your time” is the most efficient application of your skills within the amount of time given you by your fastest competitor‘s time, you’re going to win. For you’ve defined “your time” as the time it takes to win rather than the fastest possible time. And you have thus given yourself enough ease to perform your best.
-----When I was in the ninth grade, I had half-a-dose of slot car racing in my blood. Once a week “the big race” was held at the eight lane slot car track in town. Each week the track owner put up a winner’s prize sufficient to draw a field of eight racers with good cars, and a couple handfuls or more of spectators.
-----Now, at this particular time in slot car racing, there were three different styles of slot car chassis based on motor alignment. Alignment is important because motor torque effects car stability. The better it is the faster you can go without wrecking. The old-old style was least stable, the old style was more stable, but of course, the most stable was the new style. My best car was a red Mustang with a wide, white double racing stripe built upon an old style chassis. Everyone else was running the new style. But I intended to have some fun challenging a bunch of new style cars with my beloved old Mustang.
-----I walked to the track with no expectation of winning, but with a heart full of confidence that I would do my little Mustang’s best. Surprisingly, I beat a dozen or so other drivers to qualify for the last, and worst, slot on the track. It was the worst because its corners were the tightest, hardest ones to negotiate without crashing. If ever you wanted the most stable chassis style, it was when racing on the worst slot!
----So I sat back during the moments before the race began and contemplated my possibilities of not embarrassing myself. I saw in the other drivers’ attempts to qualify a sole inclination towards speed. They knew crashes were inevitable, and good spotters would get their cars re-slotted. They were obviously thinking that the faster they could run the better!
-----Seeing this, I adjusted my attitude. My objective became not to run as fast as my Mustang could go, but to run as fast as it would stay on the track. I reasoned that their angst would crash their cars enough more than I might crash mine, so maybe I would have enough time to be careful and yet win. As the race began, then, I celebrated focus, not speed.
-----I crashed only once. And nearing the race's end I started hearing the announcer commenting more and more about this little red and white Mustang. To everyone’s surprise, it was soon announced that this little in-line Mustang had just beaten every one of those angle-winders!
-----My own surprise came with a bit of dismay. In contemplating what had just happened, I realized I had rationalized and applied a winning strategy. I should have fully expected to win, and so should not have been surprised, because I had run with confidence and skill measured by knowledge of the race, not just with blind speed. I think this is what Paul means by running to win.
Love you all,
Steve Corey
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