EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH
Break off bondage to fear
By H.M. Wyeth
A friend who is the captain of a boat in Kona told me about a recent free-diving contest in which competitors ventured deep without oxygen tanks. Aboard her boat was the winner of the "55-and-older" division, an 85-year-old Ainu pearl diver from Japan. This remarkable woman repeatedly dived to depths of 50 feet to 70 feet, often lingering on the bottom to gather shells. She was enjoying diving too much to think about retiring any time soon.
What a wonderful example of freedom from conventional notions of age. More wonderful still, more and more men and women are living not only longer but fuller lives.
When I began canoe paddling some 20 years ago, there were two age divisions for adults — Open and Masters. Masters meant 35 and older. Now new brackets for ages 45 and 55 have been introduced. The Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association is considering divisions for even older people.
The video "Surfing for Life" shows yet more examples of people who refuse to take old age lying down ... unless it's on a surfboard. A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor described a new generation of older surfers who took up the sport after seeing the video.
What does all this have to do with expressing faith? It seems to me that these people and others like them are living what St. Paul calls "the glorious liberty of the children of God." (Romans 8:21)
What might this phrase mean? In the same chapter (verse 15), Paul says that "ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear. ..." What human activity more clearly expresses freedom from bondage to fear than sports?
Grace, strength, discipline, teamwork, joy — these are some of the many qualities that make athletics fun both to see and to do. Though expressed through bodily activities, these virtues are spiritual. As such, they cannot be restricted by physical circumstances.
But aren't there inexorable limits to what human bodies can achieve? Isn't there good scientific evidence to prove this? Isn't it right to fear transgressing the bounds imposed by nature?
I can remember when women were forbidden to run marathons. Experts had plenty of good scientific evidence that the female body could not endure the stress of running such distances. So bound by fear were those who believed this evidence that the first woman to run the Boston Marathon had to sneak in ... and officials tried to pull her off the course during the race.
Today women compete in ultra-marathons, triathlons, and countless other endurance activities. Their bodies endure the stress just fine.
Who knows what future athletes will accomplish? I think we are just beginning to discover what great things people can do. Sports are one way in which everyone can be free from bondage to fear. Whether we surf the waves or the Web, dive or drive, skateboard or shuffleboard, "the glorious liberty of the children of God" is ours to enjoy now and always.
H.M. Wyeth is a member of the Christian Science Society of Kaua'i.
