Posted on: Saturday, September 25, 2004

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH

By Roy Gaton

"It ain't over 'til it's over," the great New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra once declared. And while this could be applied to any sport, it was perhaps most movingly expressed during the men's marathon at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.

This marathon, run at high altitude on a very hot and humid day, was as dramatic as any Greek tragedy: Famed Ethiopian runner Abebe Bikila lost all chance of winning a third consecutive gold medal in the event when an injury forced him to drop out of the race about a third of the way through.

Teammate Mamo Wolde picked up the mantle and won the gold, with Kenji Kimihara, a Japanese runner, finishing second on the verge of collapse.

But the marathon was not over. Bud Greenspan's book, "100 Greatest Moments in Olympic History," describes how an hour after Wolde crossed the finish line, the marathon reached its conclusion. Into the stadium came John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania, his leg bloody and bandaged. Wincing with pain at every step, he pressed on, and the thousands of spectators, silent just a few minutes before, began clapping.

Akhwari made his painful way around the track and the cheering grew louder. As he hobbled across the finish, the crowd roared as if he had been the winner!

He was asked why he endured the pain and why, since there was no chance of winning, he did not retire from the race. He appeared perplexed at the question, then he said: "I don't think you understand. My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race."

Each one of us is in a race — the race of life. We have started, we are running, yet so many just give up. Living and growing is like running a 26-mile marathon. If we give up on the 24th mile, we will never know what it feels like to finish the race.

Wherever you might find yourself in that race, under whatever circumstances, don't give up. Yes, there will be times when we will want to give up. Our pain seems to have no end and hopelessness is all we can see. In a way, we are like a runner in his 24th mile. He might think he cannot finish the race; he may lose his ability to see things as they are. By remembering previous successes and the goal ahead, he will no doubt finish the race. It does not matter how many people come in before or after. It matters only that you finish.

In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins, not through strength but through perseverance.

John L. Mason said, "Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go." Don't let go! There is a goal and there is a finish line. When we refuse to give up, we give ourselves an accomplishment we can rejoice in, the reward of knowing that we have done our best.

In the words of Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Hence there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord will award me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved him."

The Rev. Dr. Roy Gaton is the director of Spiritual Life & Pastoral Care at Castle Medical Center.