What drives Michael Phelps

What drives Michael Phelps August 11, 2016

Is, according to this, Rick Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life.  Eh.  When it comes to things like Warren’s book for modern sensitivities, I chalk it up to Philippians 1:18.  At least the Gospel gets out there somehow, and if it starts somebody on the path to Christ, so be it.  I hope and pray that Phelps can navigate the straight and narrow through fame and wealth in our age.  It’s never been easy, and I’m sure it’s not any better today.

My boys are already beginning to mourn the end of an era.  There are certain things that mark a closing point for youngsters.  I remember when Return of the Jedi came out.  Star Wars mania had already subsided and the great Fantasy Renaissance was beginning to wane.  We had outgrown Star Wars by then, but there was still a notion that a chapter was closing.  Same when the last Harry Potter book was released and my boys saw it as a closing point in their lives.  The Beatles breaking up.  Carson going off the air.  And when Phelps swims his last Olympic race.

My boys first heard about him in 2004 when they were just youngsters; my third son was too young to understand.  Like so many in the world, we jumped out of our seats when he swept the medals in 2008.  One of the great moments in sports history.  And now my boys, who are teenagers and adults, can only explain to our youngest what it was like.  And when Phelps finishes his last race this week, it will be the closing of a chapter for them, another end to an era.

Let’s pray that his first steps courtesy of Rev. Warren only point to a growth and closeness to God that all of his accomplishments, as amazing as they are, will never equal.


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