Richard Gasquet Battles to Move Ahead

Nadal, Murray and Federer have all found their spot in the third round of the Australian Open by now; but Del Potro has gone out. Last night in Melbourne, Berdych moved on to the fourth round. We wait to see if Querry will advance; but as I prepare this post for cyber space Richard Gasquet from France faces the challenge of overcoming Robredo's two-to-one set lead.

In any sport people in the audience look for different things. I look for grace; and when I think of Gasquet on the court that's what I see. Sportscasters refer to his backhand stroke as, in fact, a work of art. When I watched him play in New York I had no trouble forgetting the ball. While other spectators wagged their heads back and forth, I enjoyed watching Gasquet glide on the court with grace.

Grace attracts attention and gives us opportunity to rethink our concept of "winning." The ancient writings of the Christian faith use the analogy of winning an athletic event to describe the quality of endurance; but when it comes to trophies, we find it is not about whose name is written on what we think of as the last line of the draft chart. Jesus' eye is on the poor widow who gives two pennies. The winners in the crowd of "generous" patrons means nothing to him.

There is some truth in the delightful movie, Cars, where Lightning McQueen discovers grace and turns away from self promotion. In Jesus' gospel as revealed in those ancient manuscripts, unworthy sinners through faith in Him, find grace as the alternative to their quest for trophies of lust and pride. At the same time they find themselves placed in an atmosphere of grace; and in that atmosphere they are given the assignment of learning the art form of graciousness in the way they speak Truth and their attitude in living Truth.