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The Pinecone
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August 2016
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f r om Don J oh n s on , K i r b y P i n e s Chap l a i n
Chaplain’s COrner
August 5 – 21 the 2016 Summer
Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil, with 10,500 athletes worldwide
expected to participate. As in any sports
endeavor the focus will be on those who
win.
Let’s think back to the 1992 Olympic
Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain,
and consider an athlete who didn’t win
but will be remembered in one of the
greatest sports stories of all time.
Derek Redmond, a British runner,
had shattered his country’s 400-meter
record when only 19. In the 1988
Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, Derek
suffered an Achilles tendon injury just
10 minutes before the 400-meter race
and went through numerous surgeries
the next year. Now, in Barcelona, it was
Finish the Race
J u l y Vesper Serv ices
•
6:30pm
•
Per formi ng Ar t s Center
August 11th
Reverend Don Marston
Forest Hill
Baptist Church
August 18th
Reverend Wes Brown
Faith Angelican
Church
August 25th
Doctor Will Jones
Germantown
Presbyterian Church
August 4th
Reverend David Atkinson
Collierville
United Methodist Church
Derek’s time. He desperately wanted to
win…not just the gold medal but any
medal he could get.
In the semifinal 400-meter race, if
Derek was among the top four runners
to finish, it would qualify him for the
Olympic final. He broke from the pack
to seize the lead. Surely he would make
the final race. Down the backstretch
only 175 yards from the finish line
Derek’s hamstring snapped. He could
no longer run but began hopping on one
leg, slowly and painfully. He then fell
to the ground. As tears streamed from
his eyes he said to himself, “I’m out of
the Olympics—again.” A medical team
reached Derek with a stretcher but he
replied, “There’s no way I’m getting on
that stretcher. I’m going to finish my
race.”
In a stadium filled with 65,000, from
Section 131, Row 22, Seat 25, Derek’s
father, Jim, who always attended the
sports events with him, was crying,
“Oh, no.” He began to run down the
stadium steps, jumping over the guard
rail and pushing aside security guards
who were trying to stop him. Jim and
his son had agreed, that no matter what
happened, Derek must finish the race.
Derek had stood up and was again
hobbling forward. Jim reached him, put
his arm around his son, placed Derek’s
arm around his shoulders as Derek said,
“Get me to lane five, Dad, I want to
finish the race.”
The stadium crowd, and millions
watching worldwide by television,
stood to its feet in thunderous applause
as everyone watched a father and his
son struggle toward the finish line. The
race was already over, but with loving
support and challenging commitment
the two pushed ahead. Just a short
distance from the finish line, the father
released Derek to cross on his own.
Derek didn’t win….or did he? Such
deep love and focus are seldom seen.
What can be learned from the Derek
and Jim Redmond saga?
So often our goals seem shattered! Our
obstacles are too great! Our pain is
insurmountable and our focus blurred!
Who cares if we finish the race?
That’s when the Father, who is always
with us in every circumstance of life,
steps in. He places his strong arms
around us and gives us His shoulders to
lean on. He walks with us through the
pain and tears. He gives us the support
and strength to continue and He enables
us to finish the race.
We cannot continue to lay down in our
failure! We cannot let others carry us
off the track! We cannot just run the
race; we must finish it!
What a love story. Let’s strive to be like
Paul as expressed in II Timothy 4:7,
“I have fought the good fight; I have
finished the race; I have kept the faith.”
Till next time,
Don Johnson, KP Chaplain
Olympian, Derek Redmond being helped
across the finish line by his father, Jim