We just saw an amazing race! Defar, a talented athlete, running as hard as she could to win a gold medal! And what did she do when she realized she had won? Immediately she held up an icon of the Theotokos, to give thanks to God.
She cried, she knelt and she held that icon up for all to see. Without words she sent a spiritual message to countless people watching around the world. It's likely she had endured great struggles to make it to where she was. She had not given up and perhaps she was now saying, "Thank you for all things in my life my Lord. My Theotokos you were always with me as I pounded the track, my Christ you were beside me when I thought I could no longer stand up, and my God you gave me courage to go on running." Knowing that she had not won alone, and with all eyes on her, she gazed to the heavens, to give thanks to God.
We may never compete in such an event as Defar, but each and every one of us can all run the race of our life following Jesus. St Paul writes that we can compete to obtain "an incorruptible crown" (1 Cor 9.25). It does not matter who we are or where we come from. Even if we encounter great obstacles we are not alone, for the Theotokos is with us. And let us also remember, to give thanks to God.
