Heroes

This is a blog I was going to do quite a while ago. In fact, I was going to do it at the beginning of the month. I opted not because I didn't want to jinx it.

Today Lance Armstrong won his seventh Tour De France in a row. Also his last one. Lance is retiring to the easy life of dating Sheryl Crow. What this man has done is truly inspirational. We all know how he was diagnosed with cancer and how that cancer was pretty severe. Always left out of the story was the fact that (and not to be mean here) he wasn't all that great before his sickness. It is one thing to be great, face a struggle and comeback again. It is a totally other thing to be "average," face what he did, and THEN win seven straight of one of the most grueling sporting competitions around. His story and what he has done for cancer research and done for the spirits of millions (yes millions) of people makes him an icon and a hero.

Funny thing about heroes though. Sometimes, even though you admire them so much, certain things can make you cringe. In Lance's case it is his faith, or lack thereof. I myself am not all that faithful sometimes and certainly not as faithful as I would like to be. I struggle everyday with this; my relationship with God. That fire is there though and I can feel it, now I just need to let it burn more. Problem with my hero is that I think that fire may have been put out long ago. In a biography about him called "Lance Armstrong's War," Lance is quoted as saying that "too many people use religion as a crutch." There are also various articles (if you were to do a google search) about Lance's "here and now" philosophy as opposed to any belief in God/Jesus/the Holy Spirit. I watched the Tour this morning despite the fact that I have no idea how the whole system actually works (how do you not win every stage but retain a 2 minute 30 second lead every day?!?) and I think his story is one of a kind, but it kinda hurts when a hero doesn't believe in what you do. I believe he was given another chance (by the way, we all get second chances, even if our first one isn't faced with a dieases) to make an impact on lives. He has, but he doesn't understand his second chance came from God. He doesn't understand that he has a chance to also influence even more by sharing the Word.

In the end, I guess that is between Lance and God. I am not judging him because of the fact that I question myself lots of times. I guess I was just a little let down by a hero.