Am I Related to Dara Torres?

Well, probably not, but I'm definitely rooting for her. At 41, Dara Torres is defying the "rule" of age in her quest for Olympic swimming gold in Beijing. This is good for everyone, I think. Starting next Friday, her story will be one of hundreds that I and millions of others watch and follow. And it's not the swimming or other sports that draw our fascination. It's the competition. Competition of this scale delivers high levels of suspense and drama. It is the stuff of life. All who seek excellence have eyes and ears for it. Yet, on one level, the Olympics are meaningless or worse, especially if one focuses on the human rights violations and political dishonesty they represent. But the spiritual fire of pure competition still carries the day. It still merits our time and attention. Iron sharpens iron. The central story of humanity in my view - the account of the cross of Christ - is a record of overcoming. In a sense, the entire Bible is written specifically to those who overcome. Others can't read it fully; they don't feel included in all the instructions and commands. Life is a competition between the sinful, selfish, lazy natural man that I am without Christ as my Lord and the new man He makes me. Even when I'm told the outcome, I want to watch from edge of my seat. Everything hangs in the balance. Today, I may not be swimming for gold, but, then again ...