{"id":1288,"date":"2024-08-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2024\/08\/14\/olympic-opening-ceremony\/"},"modified":"2024-08-14T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T06:00:00","slug":"olympic-opening-ceremony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/2024\/08\/14\/olympic-opening-ceremony\/","title":{"rendered":"Were We Too Quick to Take Offense at the Olympic Opening Ceremony?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I was disappointed in much of the opening ceremony at this year\u2019s Olympic Games in Paris.  Perhaps it\u2019s my age, or an increasingly \u201ccranky\u201d disposition, but the scene that caused the most reaction for me was, of course, the crass parody and depiction of Da Vinci\u2019s, The Last Supper.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The creators of the parody said it was NOT meant to offend anyone<\/a> and in fact, it wasn\u2019t even a depiction of the actual painting.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if this is true, but I don\u2019t want facts to get in the way of my disappointment and faux rage.\u00a0 I wanted to vent!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you ever wanted to give someone a piece of your mind!?\u00a0 Of course you have, you\u2019re human! \u00a0\u00a0And then I remember the comedian who said that \u201cthose who frequently share a ‘piece of their mind’ with others are the ones who can least afford to lose it\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can I be honest here?\u00a0 As I thought more about the Olympic mishap, what saddened me the most was my<\/em> lack of compassion<\/strong> for those who, more than likely, do not know Jesus.\u00a0 In other words, I asked myself, \u201cwhat would Jesus do?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mind went to the gospel of Luke, chapter 19<\/a>. “And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, ‘Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes….<\/em> because you did not know the time of your visitation.<\/em>‘”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ouch.  It was a reminder to me that we are called to share the good news of Jesus with people of all shapes, sizes, colors, backgrounds, and political persuasion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also a reminder that sinners act like sinners<\/strong>, so why am I shocked when people without faith in God act like they do?\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to point fingers at others when I know that I don\u2019t live up to my own expectations, let alone God\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, where do I go from here?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could write some pithy next steps about listening more; to pray<\/a> and wait before responding, etc. But honestly, that\u2019s too neat and tidy.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s grittier and harder than those next steps.\u00a0 I think it\u2019s more about growing closer to the only One who died for me<\/strong> and hearing His heart for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, help me see You clearly and to love those whom You love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019d love to hear from you and please feel free to share a piece of your mind.\u00a0 Or if you prefer, please share your mind of peace. Leave a comment below and let’s continue the conversation!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dick Whitworth
Director of Operations, STAR 99.1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The creators said it wasn’t meant to offend anyone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":1289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[24,28,109],"class_list":["post-1288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spiritual-growth","tag-encouragement","tag-inspiration","tag-loving-others"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-13 13:16:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/upliftingstar.com\/star1015denver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}