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Different worlds

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3.28


The opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics was reckoned to be a muted affair. Yet the choreographed snowflakes uniting into a symbol of global unity was still impressive. Similarly aspiring were the words of IOC President Thomas Bach in his opening of the Games, in which he rehearsed their noble aspiration to transcend political divisions in a celebration of athletic endeavour.


So it was bizarre to see the same event presented so differently on the BBC News at 10. Here the emphasis was all on the significance of Vladimir Putin's presence and the talks he and President Xi Jinping had held immediately before the opening ceremony. So much for the transcending of politics!


Throughout history our competitive instinct has morphed into various ugly manifestations: war, discrimination, prejudice, persecution and the whole gamut of "-isms" and "-phobias". We need to be regaled with nobler aspirations. And which is nobler than the effect of Jesus' reconciling ministry expressed by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Galatians? Through Jesus we find the way out of our warped relationships. In following Jesus we are equipped to survive outside of our bubbles of prejudice and discrimination. Otherwise we are helpless. In Christ everything becomes possible.

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