When I see people stand fully in their truth, or when I see someone fall down, get back up, and say, Damn. That really hurt, but this is important to me and I’m going in again—my gut reaction is, “What a badass.” Brenè Brown
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. The Apostle Paul (Philippians 3:12)
Eric Liddell was the Olympian who refused to run his preferred 100-yard dash, because one of the qualifying rounds fell on the Sabbath. Instead he went on to win a gold medal in the lung-bursting 440. The scene was made famous by the movie Chariots of Fire.
How can we talk about Rising Strong, or the Book of Philippians, without a nod to this infamous moment in the history of sports?
The stage was set, and the final sprint to be run: 440 yards. Liddell and the runners were still bunched together around the first bend when Liddell was pushed over and fell entirely off the track. In a flash, he was back on his feet, as though charged within by a divine force. At the last moment he overtook the leaders for the win in his final step.
What would you have done? I suspect I would have accepted from the moment I fell that I was out of the race, with no hope left. I would have set my sights on rising strong next year. With Liddell it was the opposite. It was as though he was illustrating this passage of Paul— or Brenè Brown on the true meaning of “badassery”.
Brenè makes a deal of that ‘term’ in the introduction of Rising Strong; because she doesn’t want us to confuse the process of rising with cultural obsessions about “grit”, “swagger” and what she terms—“badassery”.
This morning I read Philippians 3:12-16 and re-read the Introduction of Rising Strong and re-watched Manifesto of the Brave and Brokenhearted.
Together, they paint a picture of the person who is willing to live bravely—not because of grit, swagger or perfection, but because they have LEARNED how to rise strong.
More on Chasing on to the Finish tomorrow.
Starter Prayer
LORD God, teach me the difference between faking it and rising strong.
Reading Focus for Rising Strong, by Brené Brown
We are now in week 5, of this 6-week study. The focus is Chapters 8-9 of Rising Strong. The topics are: rumbling with failure and self-worth.
Awake 