Love and Olympic gold shine in Japanese region hit by tsunami

A Christian Science perspective.

Olympic figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, gold medalist at the Sochi Winter Games, is from the Tohoku region of Japan, where the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit three years ago today. The effects of the disaster hindered Hanyu’s opportunities to pursue his Olympic goals. But his tenacity prevailed. In spite of the setbacks and need to keep moving – finding “home” and skating rinks outside his town – he had the goal of not only bringing back an Olympic medal to his hometown, but also of performing as much as he could for those who are still in the area where the disaster took place.

In his interviews he talks about what he could give back to those who have been working to rebuild this area, as well as to those who were driven away from their home to find new life and stability in towns unfamiliar to them. He said he might not be able to do much himself but hoped that his performance would inspire others to think about what they could do to make a difference in Tohoku. And, as a proof of his gratitude, he announced that he would donate his prize money – nearly $60,000 – to revitalizing the communities affected by the tsunami (Sponichi, Feb. 27).

When he returned to his home prefecture, the mayor of Sendai asked him, “I heard you eat very little. Where does your power come from?” To this Hanyu answered that his “power” came not only from his love for skating but also from remembering how he had been supported by so many people who helped him continue skating in spite of the destruction (NHK, Feb. 26).

As I watched these interviews, I felt the power that truly moved Hanyu was love – his love for skating and love of all those who supported him, starting with his family and those who made it possible for him to skate. The love that moved him, I strongly believe, has a divine origin; its source is God, divine Love. It is the love that the Bible talks about when it says, “Perfect love casts out fear” (I John 4:18, New King James Version). Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of The Christian Science Monitor, described divine Love as “impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals” (“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 13).

Three years ago, Hanyu saw the tsunami – something beyond what we would see in the movies – along with incredible sadness, anger, and bewilderment. He also witnessed the real strength and power that never bows down to disaster and destruction.

Many spiritual scriptures, including the Bible, suggest that “man’s extremity is God’s opportunity” (see II Corinthians 1:8-11), but that doesn’t mean the extremity is sent by God. According to the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, the extremity allows for the proof of the constant and consistent goodness and love of God for all to become evident in our lives.

What truly supports us is a constant outpouring of love, a flood tide of love, that comes from God, who cares for, watches over, loves, and protects each of us (see “Christian Science Hymnal,” No. 278). Christian Science teaches that God is both Love and Principle, and is the source of harmony and peace in individuals’ lives. And as the image and likeness of this Love and Principle, we each have the capacity to feel order, strength, generosity, and joy beyond disorder and despair.

The number of medals Japanese athletes earned in Sochi was few, but this gold medal meant the whole world to Japan, especially to Tohoku.

Thank you, volunteers, for coming to Tohoku. Thank you for all the boxes of goods and for the financial support. And most of all, thank you for your prayers and for the love you have been sending to Japan during the past three years.

For a Japanese translation of this article, see The Herald of Christian Science on JSH-Online.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Love and Olympic gold shine in Japanese region hit by tsunami
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2014/0311/Love-and-Olympic-gold-shine-in-Japanese-region-hit-by-tsunami
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe