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Great heights and great lows

By: Mark Tronson
Friday, 30 July 2010, 6:06 (EST)
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Recently someone told me that their life had been without any great drama. This person had lived in the same house growing up, never got into a flight, never endured any broken bones nor sports injury, breezed through high school and into university, married the girl of his dreams, has a great job and future.

If only that was the experience of everyone!

But, sadly, that is far from the norm, as life is generally, experiences of great highs and great lows, and it's how we handle those tests our character that illustrates something of our commitment to life's journey.

Sports are a fascinating reflection of life. The Australian cricket team saw its world cricket standings rise steadily from the foundations of the Allan Border era through to the Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh eras, and into the Ricky Ponting captaincy. Then numbers of the greats retired, and it' became a whole new look squad. It's not been all plain sailing. Australia lost the Ashes in England twice in a row.

Life itself is a mixture of great heights and great lows. There are dramatic issues which gives cause for much rejoicing in a parent's heart, such the birth of a new baby, and the day a child goes to school for the first time. Equally the loss of a child brings with it a heartache that mere words cannot sooth.

Life is full of perhaps less dramatic experiences that have similar effects on us, and sport has an unusual impact as it lifts us to the heights of overwhelming satisfaction or plunges us down to the most astonishing depths of despair.

Losing a grand final by a missed goal or missing a place in an Olympic swimming team by a thousandth of a second illustrates this kind of sport despair, both for those participating and those supporting the athletes.

The 2005 and 2009 Ashes loss to England greatly affected the Australian cricketers. The Australian cricketing public's response was just as despondent, and sometimes critical of team members.

He's noted the public criticism of the Australian cricketers as there is a fickleness in cricket as there is in life.

The New Testament speaks of this same fickleness when the crowds cheered Jesus one week and called for his crucifixion the next.

Experiences of life, illustrates this same oscillation in that good or bad fortune can be as difficult as the other to accommodate.

Jesus Christ spoke of himself and his teaching as the solid Rock. With him as the foundation of life, Christians have found over the centuries a reliable reference point to help deal with the highs and lows of their experiences.


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