This morning, lets look at a little history of activities that began with some planning, with imagination and on occasion, creativity. The phrase that my mother used often with us kids was; "Go outside and play"! Okay! When we got outside what where we to do? When my children were small we had many things for them to play with so the questions of what to do never seem to come up. Today, the things our children want to play with cost lots of dollars.. So there are the haves and the have nots. We don’t want our children feeling left out, do we?
While touring Athens in 2003, Jim and I were impressed with the coliseum (stadium) where the 1896 Olympics were held. It was an all marble structure, which was originally built in the 4th Century BC. It was amazing to see how small it was compared to the facilities that are being built wherever the Olympics are held today. The oval of the track was quite different. It was much narrower and longer than the tracks we use today. I assume that even with the different dimensions of the oval that it could have been approximately 400 meters long. We never made it to the coliseum in Rome but I understand the ruins are a sight to behold. But when I think about the activities held there eons ago, I am not impressed to the point that I would want to tour it. In my teens we use to go the coliseum in California where the Ram’s football team played and then later on the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team took it over. The word coliseum means large structure used for athletic games. The LA coliseum is still being used by local teams!
Today, many of the baseball diamonds around the country are being torn down and rebuilt to allow for more socializing with restaurants and swimming pools besides the athletic event. Today, there are those who still like to watch baseball, basketball, football, hockey and even soccer. As for me I like to watch a little baseball but when the series is over, I am glad for a rest. Baseball is so intense!
Children today play the games that are provided through the schools they attend. Some are avid players and some are just fans of the games. It is great that today girls are acclaimed as well as the boys. Physical activity is important in our youth especially because of the obesity problem throughout our country. The only problem I see is getting young people to give up their hand held games that keep them mostly sitting and indoors. No activity there, except for the finger movement and if they would only apply that to an instrument, what music could be heard.
Our church held a chili cook-off! We had 9 competitors! After the judging we had one winner. All races end up that way! Even when there is a tie, one is the runner up! Let’s look again at 1 Corinthians 9:24 where it says that all runners compete but only one wins the prize. All athletes exercise self-control, they keep themselves physically fit. Working out becomes second nature to them. What is your game plan today? How are you preparing yourself? Are you physically and spiritually fit? Jane Ann