I Don't Want to Ponder This

We all lived through the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

We heard about "shock and awe"from the Bush administration in 2003.

Now there's this:

“They will be met with the fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before,” President Trump said.

On many levels I hope this is just saber-rattling bluster and hyperbole. To think that such fire, fury, and power would be limited to a small area of eastern Asia might well be the height of suicidal folly.

Why all this now?

Well, among other things, Kim Jong Un is not sane. He is a bully who likes to do his own saber-rattling. And he has started doing that now because?

Six months from today the 2018 Winter Olympics begin...

in South Korea!

Might it just be he is jealous and angry at all the positive publicity that South Korea will be getting? Might it be that his goal is to embarrass the United States by preventing the Olympics from happening or using that as a stage for his bullying? Will he hold the world hostage through Olympic-centered actions?

No one knows, of course, but if I were the Olympic people and NBC which will broadcast the games, some very special precautions and arrangements should be made. This is not a safe and secure situation. Let us hope calmer minds prevail.

More Olympic Reflections

Not to dampen it all, but as I watched the Opening Ceremony last evening, I was also doing some of my web-surfing. I came across a link at Bene Diction Blogs On to artist John Santic's posting called "Stations of the Cost" a reflection to bring to mind the suffering of many in the face of the Olympics. I am not trying to be a killjoy. We need beauty and joy and art. The Opening Ceremony was certainly all of that. But I do think there is a prophetic place to challenge excess in culture when it removes us from the awareness of need.

Here is Santic's introduction to the post:

Welcome to ‘Stations of the Cost’. Below are fourteen images with poetic reflections on the social, economic, and environmental issues surrounding the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. In the pattern of the ancient Christian Liturgy, the ‘Stations of the Cross’, we want to help you recognize that many are suffering as a result of the Olympics as low cost housing disappears, government debt increases, the environment erodes, and the poor are criminalized. Our hope is to bring attention to these issues because we are inspired by a vision of equality, justice, healing, and well being for all people.

The ‘Stations of the Cross’ liturgy is intended to draw people into identification and reflection on the last hours and sufferings of Jesus. What was unique and central to the life and action of Jesus was his identification with the marginalized and his critique of oppressive powers. The ‘Stations of the Cost’ is intended to help people reflect on the suffering of the marginalized and the oppressiveness of powers at work in our world today.

We are not opposed to the Olympic vision to use sport as a tool to bring hope to the world, but what is concerning is the vivid inaccuracy of this aim in the efforts to bring these games to Vancouver. This inconsistency is worth pointing out in order to inform a more just approach to the Olympics. Our heart is to advocate for a games that seeks the betterment of all people, not just a privileged few.

Here's a link to the Flickr set of pictures.

The World is Watching

The Games Begin.

NBC has begun its coverage of the Winter Olympics. Their opening preview was filled with super-saturated colors, wonderful videography, smiling intense athletes, purple prose are the standards for this kind of show.

Tragedy struck first, though. The luge athlete killed as he flipped off the track and careened into a post. It couldn't be ignored, of course, but the news did it's job and now it's time to play the games.

But there were also the protesters. Money (lots of money) spent, incredible security and lots of homeless people brought out those who want to advocate for those who are the unseen.

It is, in other words, the world in some kind of microcosm. Sure, it is over-hyped. But it is fun. Sports becomes metaphor; athletes become heroes; victory and defeat become world-shaking. Again, it is fun. It is entertainment. It is Big Business. It is a great mid-winter escape.

I won't be watching all of it- too many other things going on. But it will be a good time.

Enjoy. Go for it.