Mondays are for Take that French Relay Team Ramblings…

What a great weekend! Between the start of the Olympics, some nice weather, a great softball weekend and a great day in church, it was simply a satisfying weekend. Enough of the pleasantries, let’s get to the ramblings.

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

I have never been so excited about men in spandex. That was the greatest swimming race I have ever seen. The look of pure joy and ecstasy on the faces of the relay team was awesome. After such an incredible comeback against a team that had said they smash them, there are four very satisfied athletes today.

Watching Michael Phelps got me to thinking. What would it feel like to know you are the greatest at something. That you are probably better at it than any human being that has ever lived? That is probably something you can’t really spend too much time talking about or thinking about, but it would have to be unnerving in many ways.

I am trying to find something that I can do better than any human being that has ever lived and I am struggling with it right now. I am thinking about going for something obscure, to help my chances. Maybe I will become the worlds greatest right handed user of left handed scissors. Or I could become the greatest Nazarene preacher in a Methodist Church. Or maybe, I could go Jesus style, and work to be the least in everything and then be the greatest. I will update you as this unfolds.

Costas is the Grill Man

I thoroughly enjoyed Bob Costas’ interview with President Bush. I was surprised when it came on and really thought Bush seemed very presidential. I especially liked how he talked about his direct conversations with the Russians and Chinese about issues affecting them. I thought that Bush was more likable than I had ever seen him. He has had a nice presence here in China. Good for him for coming and adding a nice bit of support to the athletes. At this point he doesn’t have much else to do, but it was humanizing to have him there.

Well done job by Costas as well with the questions he asked. He was direct, asked questions of significance, and quickly followed up the president’s responses without letting him off the hook when he spoke like a politician. This interview was second only in interest to the interview with Bela Karolyi.

Dunk you very much

The Redeem Team had a nice scrimmage against China. One of the factors that can really help the American team is that these games will feel like home games. Kobe and Lebron are more popular in China than Yao! They will have the fans behind them for every game. That can make a nice difference. Kobe is probably the greatest player in the world right now, but not by much. Lebron is the most intimidating, impressive, and mesmerizing player in the universe. In the past couple of years Carmelo Anthony has been the best player on the floor for the US squad, but not so anymore. Now that Lebron has begun to figure out international play, he is the dominant force in the world. He is about to go Phelps on the rest of the field.

I wish I could have been..

As I have been reading the story of Joseph in Genesis I have started to really spend time imaging what it would have been like to live his life. This got me thinking. Of all the Biblical characters, whose life would you live and why? Now we are going to go ahead and eliminate Jesus as an answer for all you smartaleky always bust out the Jesus answer in Sunday School types. Off the top of my head, here are my top candidates in no particular order.

The I’m interested list

Joshua – had the misfortune of following a legend, but was a successful commander and conqueror

David – His life was a roller coaster and he experienced tremendous pain, but he had some magical years in there that almost make the rest of it worth it

Andrew – There are almost no bad references to Andrew. He wasn’t nearly the pain his brother was, and he didn’t get rebuked very often. He seemed to quietly go about his life as a disciple. This is appealing.

Nimrod – Why or why dear writer of Genesis did you not give us more about Nimrod

Noah’s Wife – She never gets a name, but she gets in the Ark, gets all the adventure and blessing of God’s covenant, and didn’t have to actually build the thing, good deal

Ehud – I always wanted to be a southpaw assasin

Solomon – Wisdom, fortunes, and fame sound fun for a while, but all those wives really hurt the appeal

Cornelius – Everyday guy who experiences God in profound ways and gets to chill with Peter

Samuel – Prophets are cool, especially King makers

Zechariah – A simple priest who has a great kid, that is a cool gig

Deborah – She was a judge, she was a prophet, she was simply The Woman

The I’m Not Interested List

Moses – Sure he lived in Pharaoh’s palace for a while, but 40 years as a shepherd, not thanks..

Paul – I can deal with the shipwrecked part and surviving the snake bite is a cool story to tell, but getting beat up repeatedly doesn’t sound awesome

James the lesser – You spend three years hanging out with Jesus and don’t distinguish yourself in anyway?

Jonah – Regurgitated Fish Food

Sampson – I like the long hair and strength, I don’t like having my eyes poked out

Lazarus – when I resurrect, I don’t want to have to die again, especially with the people around me plotting my death, that has to be a bummer

Mary, mother of Jesus – raising God’s son, too much pressure

John the Baptist – Camel hair makes me itch and beheading sounds uncomfortable

I would love to hear your suggestions for the character you would must like to be..