Monthly Archives: April 2010

Prayer cycle

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I’ve heard folk critical of sportsmen and women for mentioning God or prayer in connection to their sport. Notable among them, in my mind, is Peter Fitzsimons. And there’s a good point to be made – sometimes (‘God wants him to score more goals than the other guy? Why?’)

The criticism doesn’t apply universally, though. (Incidentally, isn’t this one of the odd features of current atheist tirades? Pick the weirdest practice or thought, then write off all practice or thought about God.)

I came across a good prayer example here. The pro cyclist is João Correia. I’ve never heard of him! His team is Cervélo TestTeam. I’ve certainly heard of them – and anyone with a spare Cervélo to give away can store it at my place.


This is what João wrote:

I’m one of those riders who, before a race, says a little prayer. I don’t ask for a victory, since it seems to me not only a little trivial, but as if I imagine God for some reason likes me more than the other competitors and wants me to win. Usually I just say, “Please let me finish this race safely and not crash.” My prayer wasn’t answered.

Humble in prayer, remembering what is important, and not thinking prayer is a magical incantation to guarantee an outcome. Good stuff.

Ritual

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From the introduction to this commentary:

What then is the essence of religious ritual in the Bible? It is a means of communication between God and man, a drama on a stage watched by human and divine spectators. Old Testament rituals express religious truths visually as opposed to verbally. … On the one hand they are dramatized prayers, expressing men’s deepest hopes and fears; on the other hand they are dramatized divine promises or warnings, declaring God’s attitude towards man.

On reading the law

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I’ve been reading the law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

And I’ve seen an idea to steal.

So here are some thoughts on reading these Bible books, the foundational five.

  1. Blessing or cursing. There’s a clear distinction, seen in many ways. For instance what God plans vs. what sin does; what people need vs. what people choose; long-term certainty vs. short-term experience.
  2. God makes promises, and is steadfast is sticking to his promise. Though God is disappointed in his people, he does not seem to be in a hurry.
  3. After Genesis, there is so much about tabernacle, priests, sacrifice, etc.
  4. Plenty of laws. And plenty that don’t have an individual purpose. They seem, instead, to be part of the whole, building a system of law.
  5. Grumbling, grumbling, grumbling. Gee I hate the sound of wingeing! Israel, in their complaints, even manage to idealise their past slavery.
  6. Life is tenuous. Death could arrive at any time.
  7. God speaks. And He spoke regularly and directly to Moses so very often.
  8. Moses doesn’t make it to the promised land!
  9. God’s people are so often confused.
  10. God’s opponents are feckless.

Irony

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Photos after a major European race:
Team bus #1
Team bus #2

The race is named for the beer sponsor, Amstel Gold. I guess they sponsor so people buy more beer.

Both these buses were stopped for a breath test.

Source: here.

New business slogan

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Apologies – this image is very poor (lousy camera phone and lousy photographer!). But I hope you can still read the words.

I was at a bakery, and spied two professionally-made A-frames hiding in a corner. What would you spend good money on for your business? Would it be signs that earn you nothing, because they say ‘Please don’t come in’?

The race report

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There’s a big bike race tomorrow. I will read the reports – of course it’s not televised in Australia. (Yes, I will probably watch the last 10-20 minutes when it gets posted to You Tube. Probably with Flemish or Dutch commentary.)

For the sake of budding cycling journalists, here’s the SI format for a race report (X means insert a number, N means insert a name):

At the start of N Race, X riders rolled out from town N.

Attacks in the first X time kept the pace high until a break of X riders formed that the main field was happy to get away.

The maximum gap gained by the break was X minutes, while team N patrolled the front of the peloton as punishment for not getting a man into the escape group.

By X km from the finish it was clear that (the escape was doomed)/(the escape would succeed). Then began the jostling for position in the (peloton)/(breakaway group).

At distance X from the end, rider N gave his all in search of glory. As it became clear, his all was (good enough)/(not good enough).

After crossing the line in victory, N said, ‘I had great legs today, great sensations. This is a result for the team. It’s great preparation for next week’s race N.’

Runner-up N looked disconsolate, but said, ‘He just was stronger than me today.’