What if we are born to be bad?

 I enjoy reading the plethora of articles in Smithsonian Institute's monthly magazine. One of those issues had on its front cover a sitting toddler in a diaper holding a red pitch fork, with two devil's horns on its' head. The youngster appears to be laughing. Etched beside this cherub are the words: Born to Be Bad? The article, written by Abigail Tucker, chronicles the depth of extensive studies trying to understand  human conditions.

What if we are born bad? I've never thought about myself that way. Given the 30 civil wars in 200 countries around our globe, oppressive dictators and the extraordinary number of offenders in jails and prisons across our country; maybe this is a worthy ethical question to consider. What's it mean to be bad?

Years back our 14 year old golden retriever, Rimsky (named for the famous Russian classical composer) passed away. It was a wrenching experience for my wife and I. All three of our children grew into budding adulthood with this pooch by their side. If you have been a pet owner you will understand our grief. We adopted him into our family when we lived in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Our eldest son was starting his last year at Queen Elizabeth High School. We figured that if we were ever going to have a dog, it was  now or never for our two teenage sons and 5th grade daughter. Golden retriever puppies are so much fun - just like any other squirming breed. But goldens grow up. They get bigger. Little legs that could not hop out of a cardboard box eventually can, if so motivated, retrieve elements from the kitchen counter. After one particular incident, where a complete block of butter went missing, the culprit was obvious. In response to Rimsky's behavior, I remember we said, "bad, bad dog" multiple times. When this happens most retrievers and labradors put on the most guilty demeanor - making you feel like a heel for harshly correcting them.

When we use that word, its connotation suggests that whether it be a pet or a person, that behavior is outside acceptable boundaries and can be most offensive. What are acceptable boundaries in our culture? How have they been identified and established? We call them laws. If you watch on your television the local news you will hear and see a variety of unacceptable behaviors attesting to murders and arrests, with their subsequent penalties in the breaking of local laws.

I was flipping through my bible the other day and I ran across this interesting statement. "The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself. If we keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other (Galations 5:14-15)." Depending on how we satisfy our own desires and needs, can lead us down a slippery slope. Are we born bad? No, but we've been endowed with a free will and depending on the temptations before us, that free will can really mess us up, if we are not careful. 'Better to love your neighbor within safe boundaries.

Be Well.

What If Simone Biles hadn't experienced the twisties?

 "The best thing Simone Biles did on her way to her ninth U.S. title won't show up in the score sheet".

So this story needs to be repeated from the Tuesday, June 4, 2024 issue of USA Today written by Nancy Armour! "...At 27, Biles has a perspective she wouldn't have - couldn't have - as a younger gymnast. So when she noticed Suni Lee, whose career was nearly derailed in 2023 by a kidney ailment, have a scary turn on vault, Biles did something not often seen in the sport. Biles went on to find Lee, who had gone backstage to try to compose herself, and ask if she was OK.  She asked if Lee had gotten lost in the air, as Biles had at the Tokyo Olympics. When Lee said no, Biles told her to take a deep breath and trust in her gymnastics. Everything, Biles said, was going to be alright." Lee is currently the reigning Olympic all-round gymnastics champion.

    "She just helped boost me up and get my confidence back up, because at that point, I was kind                 of thinking that this was over," Lee said. "It was really nice having her in my corner. It just felt               so good because I knew I was having a hard time, and she was just there."

Though Biles' World Champions Centre teammates were beginning their rotation on floor exercise, Biles stayed with Lee, offering her more words of encouragement before she went up on the bars. As Lee climbed up on the podium, still looking apprehensive, Biles stayed close by, cheering her from the floor. Her shouts of "C'mon! C'mon!" could be heard as Lee did her routine - a near-flawless one, mind you - and she clapped enthusiastically when Lee landed her dismount." "...Jess Graba, Lee's long-time coach, reached out to give the four time Olympic champion a pat of gratitude on the back. That's what a good leader does," Graba said. "She saw what  was going on. First event, that can throw you off. (She said), 'Just stay in your game.'"

Not staying in the game can be the beginning of an end - be it big or small, important or not, Lee's kidney ailment cut short her final season at Auburn, with months in-between filled with darkness and doubts whether she'd be able to return to her love of gymnastics.

"I just knew that she needed some encouragement and somebody to trust her gymnastics for her and to believe in her. So that's exactly what I did," Biles said. "I've been in her shoes, "Biles said, alluding to her experience in 2021 in Tokyo, where mental health issues and the isolation of COVID restrictions resulted in a case of the 'twisties' causing her to lose her sense of where she was in the air."

Due to her desire not to risk her physical safety, Biles withdrew from four individual event finals before returning to win a bronze medal on the balance beam. It took many months before she was comfortable trusting her gymnastics again. "I knew how traumatizing it is, especially on a big stage like this, and I didn't want Suni to get it in her head," Biles said. "So we just went and talked about it while she was in the back and then, when she came out, I went to support her."   

What if Simone Biles had not experience the twisties? Imagine the loss, not just to Suni Lee, but the whole U.S. Gymnastics team and the pride of America. 

    "Biles did not have to show grace to a competitor who was struggling. That she did, speaks                     volumes about who she is in a way her many medals cannot. Biles could have left Lee to                         fend for herself and no one would have thought a thing of it." 

Simone's actions reminds me of a Bible verse from 2 Corinthians9:8, "And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance." Regardless of our choices in life, be they employed or not, retired, even disabled - Simone's example is one each of us can emulate, if we so choose.

Be Well,