Reflection 3: What you do now is important - remember it’s one stage of life.
REFLECTION 3. What you do now is important - remember it’s one stage of life.
There’s an old joke about someone asking directions (you can make this have a local flavour by using the name of somewhere near you) and being told: ‘If I wanted to go there I wouldn’t start from here’. Sometimes people who have completed an extremely challenging task – like climbing a mountain – are asked wether, if they knew what challenges were involved, they have started.
There are plenty of occasions in life when, at the start of doing something, you don’t know what the outcome will be. What each one of us does with ‘today’ helps shape our ‘tomorrow’.
Yuri Gagarin in Vostok took off from a Russian cosmodrome to become the first man to orbit the earth in space. He became the first person to see with his own eyes that the Earth is round and mostly covered with water. He was in space for 108 minutes, flying at speeds of 18,000 miles an hour. He returned safely and his life was changed forever; some would argue the world was changed too. He said, ‘I could have gone on flying through space forever’.
Would you have been prepared to be strapped in that capsule, fixed to a rocket and ready to be blasted into space? Born on a simple farm, Yuri Gagarin trained to work in industry, later joined the Russian airforce and at the age of 27 took that historic journey ... into the unknown. Although he didn’t fly in space again, he did train other cosmonauts. He also travelled the world and was a living example of what Russia could achieve.
There’s more information about Yuri Gagarin at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarinand
http://www.asss.utvinternet.com/Articles02/yurigagarin.html
Eleanor (Ellie) Simmonds is someone else who has worked hard, made something very special of one stage of her life, and doesn’t know what the future holds for her.
At the 2008 Olympic Games she became Great Britain’s youngest-ever individual gold medallist in either the Paralympic or Olympic Games. Aged just 13 she won the S6 100m freestyle event in Beijing’s Water Cube, beating the favourite into second place. It wasn’t an easy race. She came from behind to be first. She said, ‘I didn’t realise that I was the first person. I just went down there and went my hardest’. She then went on to win Gold in the 400m freestyle too! In February she was awarded the MBE by her Majesty the Queen.
And she’s still got to do exams...
You can find more information about Ellie at:
http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/paralympics/simmonds-becomes-gbs-youngest-champion and
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2008/12/31/golden-girl-ellie-simmonds-celebrates-honour-91466-22582962/
BIBLE READING
Matthew 5:13-16 (Salt and Light) Being a ‘light’ (inspiration) by what you do.
REFLECTIONThe exams you are preparing for – and sitting – are one part of your life. Think about Yuri Gagarin and Ellie Simmonds and others who may come to your mind; pray for a share of their determination to push themselves to the limit and to find out what they can do.
And then pray for the wisdom to use wisely whatever you achieve.
And a thought ...
‘One of the big problems about climbing trees is what to do once you’re at the top. If there’s a view, that’s lovely, and you can look at that. But if you’ve done it to impress your mates, they are now a long way below and have probably gone home for their tea. Remember, you may feel you’re three hundred feet up but from where they’re standing it doesn’t look very impressive’
(from:
Never hit a Jellyfish with a Spade, by Guy Browning, pub Guardian Books, ISBN 1-84354-265-X)
