It was big news in Amish and Mennonite communities a few weeks ago when beer-drinking Floyd Landis appeared to have won the Tour de France. Even Landis's devout parents who wouldn't miss church to watch the race on their neighbors' television and who festooned their lawn with "Give God the glory," signs were not immune to the hype. Although God was to be given the glory, they had one sign proclaiming "Floyd's the man."
Now it turns out God wasn't responsible for the glory after all; it was synthetic testosterone that gave Landis the strength for his super-human effort in the race. I'm curious what the signs on the Landis lawn say now: "Don't blame God?" (I must say God has worked his gig pretty well. He gets the credit whenever anything good happens; whenever anything bad happens somebody else gets blamed. I see why George Bush decided to get religion.)
If I sound bitter, I am.
3 comments:
Bitter? Why? Disappointed, yes, terribly, but don't waste time being bitter. It doesn't make anything any better. I just had everything put in perspective for me. One of our transplant friends, Chris Nelson, was in a terrible motorcycle accident. He's still alive even though he broke just about every bone he has. He'll be okay but what a vivid reminder of the fragility of life and second chances. How about we give Floyd one?
I'm bitter because after all the God talk, admittedly not by him, but by his family, he turns out to be just another crook. It's up to the bicycle racing federation as to whether he gets any second chances. If he wins again and they certify he did it legally, then great. By all appearances, he doesn't have it in him to win legally.
Why bother with bitterness? It's disappointing but it's another person's life, not yours. The only life you can be certain of control and outcome is your own, with limitations.
I don't think that his parents, with their inclination to give God the glory, were approving of their son's life style nor had any idea to what extent he might go to win.
So who won the Tour de France? not fair indeed.
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