An Unambiguous Statement

       Have I ever made a definitive statement with my actions, something that was possibly unexpected yet unambiguous? I don’t think so.

       I just read in Acts 9 about the time the Apostle Paul was baptized, following his encounter with God on the road to Damascus. It was a definitive statement declaring, “What I was in the past, I’m not that now, and not that going forward. My life has permanently changed.” (I was seven years old when I was baptized. I didn’t have a lot of past to put behind.)

       Cyndi and I spent the past two weeks watching the Paris Olympics, which is a year’s worth of TV for us. So far we’ve watched dozens of sports, most of them we see only every four years. And much to my surprise, one of the scenes I found most moving happened in wrestling.

       Cuban athlete, Mijaín López, 41 years old with five Olympic gold medals in Greco-Roman Wrestling, followed up his gold-medal match by taking off his shoes and leaving them in the middle of the mat, telling the world he was retired from competition.

       López might be the most dominant Olympian of all time. He is a giant of a man, 6-foot-5, 290 pounds, and has dedicated his life to overpowering some of the strongest men on the planet.

       Mijaín López became the first person ever to win gold in the same individual Olympic event five times (2008 Beijing, 2012 London, 2016 Rio de Janeiro, 2020 Tokyo, and 2024 Paris). The remarkable streak of medals is just the beginning of his legend. Forget losing a match or settling for silver—entering the Paris Games, it had been more than a decade since he’d so much as given up a single point at the Olympics.

       “It’s like wrestling with a rock,” said retired Lithuanian wrestler Mindaugas Mizgaitis, “who is moving.”

       After clinching his historic fifth gold, López celebrated by running back-and-forth across the arena, hoisted his coaches in the air, and pumped his fists in the air. Then he walked by himself onto the mat, removed his shoes and left them in the middle of the mat, the international symbol of a wrestler’s retirement. He left them on the mat, and walked away.

       Mijaín López’s five gold medals were definitive enough, but announcing his retirement - which I’m sure came as a relief to other wrestlers – with no speeches or press releases, by leaving his shoes, was bigger than life.

       It's way too late in life for me to take up wrestling, but I long for definitive moments like this. I dream of an unambiguous life.

“I run in the path of Your commands, for You have set my heart free.”
Psalm 119:32