Our Blog this month has been written by Andy Haines.

 

The Unbelievable Truth?

 

There is a BBC Radio 4 panel game called The Unbelievable Truth in which contestants attempt to fool their opponents by reading a short statement, mostly lies, but with some cleverly hidden truths.  The objective is to spot the factually accurate statements.

 

Also, we’re amidst Olympics fever.  Having just completed the Olympic Games, we now move on to the Paralympics, in both cases where participants seek to exceed their own personal best performance and those of others. Indeed, to find their own truth!

 

So, in a conflation of these two things, here is a short statement – see if you can spot the truths and the lies…

 

The founder of the modern Olympiad won an Olympic gold medal for writing a poem.  In 1896 two brothers decided to have a go at pistol shooting while on holiday and won gold, having conveniently brought their pistols on holiday with them! In early games medals were awarded for Firefighting.  In 1904 the winner of the marathon won, despite having a ride in a car for 11 miles after getting cramp. Also that year, in a seeming precursor to the Paralympics, a male gymnast with a wooden leg won six medals in one day!  From 1912 to 1954 Olympic medals were awarded for art, painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music.  So surprised by an unlikely Luxembourg winner in the 1952 Helsinki games, the band had to improvise their way through the national anthem when the winner was presented with his 1500 meter race gold medal, because they didn’t have the music.  Doctor Spock won an Olympic gold medal. In 2012 Sir Paul McCartney was paid only £1 for his performance in the opening ceremony of the games.

 

Remarkably in this instance the fact is that they are, perhaps unbelievably, all truths!

 

So, when we read the bible we should have confidence that the sometimes unbelievable truths are in fact true. Handed down by tradition, often verified through several routes and lineage, sometimes seemingly incredible, magical… impossible.  But have faith.  These stories, told magically through the eyes of the storyteller contain: history, legislation, moral guidance, prophesy and so much more.  Let the pages of the bible sing to you and take comfort in the redemption offered by the Believable Truth.