Female Olympian

Can you imagine what everyone said to her?  Was she brave or just crazy?  Don't try! You will look like a fool!  Look at that crazy outfit you'll have to wear!  You aren't a real athlete!

Even with all the negative talk, she put her best effort into winning her sport. In some ways women were as against her taking this risk as the men were.  People knew what an athlete looked like.  They had seen pictures of her fellow countrymen as they had competed for medals.  They didn't have to wear the silly costume.
What was she trying to prove?

Charlotte Cooper was the first woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal.  She probably had a lot in common with the Muslim women who competed in the 2012 Olympics.  She had to wear clothes that restricted her movement and covered her body.  She competed in a time when people thought that she was ruining her body by exercising too much and risking not giving birth to children.

I wonder how many women shook their heads and clucked their tongues at the thought of Ms. Cooper running around hitting a little ball.  AND I wonder how many little girls took notice of what Charlotte Cooper was doing and had hope that one day they too could be Olympians.

Some people have criticized the Muslim women who competed this year in the Olympics.  Some have said they are token women who aren't really able to compete.  But I have to believe that somewhere young girls who never thought they would have a chance to be in the Olympics are thinking, "If these women could do it, so can I."  This response is why these women are role models.

Path of God

I already bought my airline ticket for my January term class in Cambridge.  Very rarely do I buy my ticket so far in advance, but I decided that while I have the money, I should go ahead and make the commitment to go to Episcopal Divinity School (EDS).  School has been a dedication to financial, intellectual, and emotional energies. Do I believe that expending these energies is going to be worth it? Absolutely. In fact I think I've already felt and seen the benefits of studying at EDS. 

Possibly the greatest challenge that I have received from EDS is an appreciation of how people are oppressed by those in power, in particular due to race, gender, and socio-economic level.  I see all around me how I benefit from the power that being white and middle-class brings me.  EDS has pushed me to examine what I am going to do with the privileges that I receive.  I think many entries of this blog show how I am taking stock my life and what God wants me to do with what I am learning.

Since I've started my field education experience, I have been pushed even further to decide what I am going to do with my degree when I earn it.  Am I going to work toward helping those who are struggling with lack of resources or am I going to ignore the reality that I see around me?  I don't know what path my education is going to lead me, but I do know that none of it will be wasted.  This I know with every being of my heart AND I am ready for the challenge.