Through my African Eyes: They do not do Bronze

11-10-2021

By Stephen Apollo

The radio commentator was reporting on an Olympic medal presentation ceremony. I did not quite catch the sport – but it was one of those paired water sports. One of the pairs on the podium had a long history of winning gold medals in previous Olympic competitions. As the final race began, even the thousands of screaming fans had it that the battle was for second place – the first was taken months before the race began. But to everyone’s surprise, the golden pair found themselves in third place. As they climbed onto the third place platform, the commentator told of their visible uneasiness, “Going by their body language, it is clear that they don’t do bronze.” To this pair, it was evident that third was a strange position.

This story reminds us the place of predictability. We all have sides, good and bad, that are closely connected to us and on whose basis other people are able to easily predict our actions. In my pastoral work, I was once invited to help some siblings solve a problem that was threatening their oneness. The eldest told her siblings, “Even if our mother was alive, she could not have agreed with this!” This touched me a big deal. A voice of one already gone, was made alive in this situation in a predictable sense and for sure this statement brought the desired result. Perhaps, like Jesus, you need to ask yourself, “Who do people say that I am? (Mark 8:27). What are you known for? What amends do you need to make? Be predictable in a good way.

Image by Adriano Gadini from Pixabay