The Amazing Race

            One of the few shows on television I enjoy (some seasons more than others) is The Amazing Race. There are lots of reasons I like the show but perhaps some of the most appealing to me are observing how people deal with pressure, how they do unbelievable feats which require an immense amount of bravery (or stupidity) and how relationships between two members of a team, and between teams themselves develop over the course of the race. 

            One of the details of the show which I find most “amazing” is the almost manic mood swings when couples get irritated with each other during difficult tasks and five minutes later are embracing when they find they are not eliminated. When frustrated with a challenge you’ll often hear a contestant say, “I quit!” Yet, they never do and almost always find the strength to carry on. 

            I wonder how many times today, or this week have you thought, “I quit!” Maybe your frustrations revolve around a particular problem like not having enough money to pay the bills or a rebellious child who’s going to end up in jail if he doesn’t straighten up. Or perhaps your troubles run much deeper than that…a bad marriage, a terminal disease or the sudden loss of your job. You may be facing more than one of these issues and you’ve just felt like throwing your hands up and yelling at the top of your lungs, “I quit!”

            Me too! Yep, me too. There is a part of me which always thinks things will get better. My heart still believes there’s some green grass out there somewhere and most of the time I’m up for looking for it. But there’s also a part of me that gets tired, frustrated, fed up and burnt out. There are days when I think I might want to quit. Just sit down, give up, “cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die.”

            But then, like a frustrated, manic Amazing Race contestant, somewhere deep inside there is a voice…no maybe…a pulse, that negativism and hopelessness had almost drowned out. I feel it beat a steady rhythm, I hear it call my name. It starts somewhere deeper than my heart though, it has a source of life all its own, not connected to circumstances or outward stimuli. It is other-worldly, not conditional on my five senses, somehow powered by something which has a source of energy “off-the-grid.” Although my body, mind, situation…my sight and the rest of my senses cry stop…Amazing (G)race will not let me. I keep running, climbing, hoping, looking for the next “pit stop,” knowing that “this too will pass” and there is a prize for those who run the race well. The answer to my Amazing Race challenges is Amazing Grace!

Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far
and Grace will lead me home.