Thought for the week (From Evesham Journal)

Thought for the week

2:00pm Thursday 2nd August 2012 in Grassroots

IT was very odd. Odd because I really am not that sporty at all. But some friends had invited me to stay over the weekend and the cross country Olympic cycling looped right past their house no less than 8 times. The odd thing was that I swiftly became utterly absorbed and found myself whooping, clapping and shouting like the crowds of thousands all around me.

I suddenly felt hugely humbled by the fact that these guys (and it was the men’s race I watched) had worked so very hard to even get in the race. What I also found moving was that every cyclist, be they in the front or part of the Team GB pack or those straggling at the back, were given the same rousing cheer as they passed.

Somehow a spirit had been discovered that usually evades us.

Those at the bottom of the leader board were worthy of as much, if not more, praise and encouragement that those at the top. Jesus spoke once about the last and the least. He spoke of a day when the order of things would be actually reversed and the last would be honoured with first place.

We so often ignore the last and the least – in our communities, our workplaces, neighbourhoods. What a great thing it would be if we noticed them and in some small way encouraged them – and hopefully beyond the Olympic fortnight.

Rev DANIEL PULHAM, Stour Valley Baptist Church