The Boys in the Boat: Pain is Part and Parcel of the Deal

The Sabbath thought for this week is based upon a book recommendation at this year’s ministerial conference in Cincinnati. The book is entitled, The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. As it says on the cover of the book, it is about “nine Americans and their quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics”.

The sport in which the men competed for Olympic gold was rowing. I don’t know much about rowing and to this point I have not had a lot of interest. But one cannot help but have an interest after getting into the book.

I was especially impressed with the rigors of rowing which are described in chapter three of the book. The following quotes help one to understand how exacting rowing is on a competitor.

“Competitive rowing is an undertaking of extraordinary beauty preceded by brutal punishment. Unlike most sports which draw primarily on particular muscle groups, rowing makes heavy and repeated use of virtually every muscle in the body, despite the fact that a rower….scrimmages on his posterior annex.” (p. 77, Thorndike Press Large Print Version).

“. . .Pound for pound, Olympic oarsmen may take in and process as much oxygen as a thoroughbred racehorse. This extraordinary rate of oxygen intake is of only so much value, it should be noted. While 75-80 percent of the energy a rower produces in a two-thousand-meter race is aerobic energy fueled by oxygen, races always begin, and usually end, with hard sprints. These sprints require levels of energy production that far exceed the body’s capacity to produce aerobic energy, regardless of oxygen intake. Instead, the body must immediately produce anaerobic energy. This, in turn, produces large quantities of lactic acid, and that acid rapidly builds up in the tissue of the muscles. The consequence is that the muscles often begin to scream in agony almost from the outset of the race and continue screaming until the very end.

“The common denominator in all these conditions—whether in the lungs, the muscles, or the bones—is overwhelming pain. And that is perhaps the first and most fundamental thing that all novice oarsmen must learn about competitive rowing in the upper echelons of the sport: that pain is part and parcel of the deal. It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what will you do, and how well will you do it, while pain has her wanton way with you” (p. 77, Thorndike Press Large Print Version).

As I read this description, I thought who would take on such a painful challenge? Amazingly, there are men and women all across the country that are willing to compete in this demanding sport.

The question for all oarsmen is, “what will you do, and how well will you do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.” It is a pertinent question for all of us as God’s people as well.

Paul addresses this issue in 1 Corinthians 9. There he uses the Olympic type games that were common in his time to make his point. He speaks about running a race and he tells us in 1 Corinthians 9:24 to run so that we may obtain the prize.

We are all in a race to obtain the kingdom of God. At times, the race is intense and demanding just like rowing. The question we all have to answer is this, “What will we do and how well will we do it as the challenges of being a Christian intensify?”

It is a worthy consideration for us on the Sabbath day.

Gary Smith