We Are The World

There really is no sight quite like it in the sporting universe.
Athletes from more than 200 nations, united as one under the five rings in a spectacular setting at the Bird's Nest. Not a gun in sight, though a smoking gun or two (read: drug cheats) no doubt will make its presence known before the five-ring circus in Beijing wraps up.
What is it about this picture we saw today that's so right? And why do we in the world get it so wrong so often in everyday life?
Legend has it that in ancient Greece, a truce was declared during every celebration of the ancient Olympic Games. Many of you, no doubt, have heard the story of German long jumper Luz Long, who befriended the great Jesse Owens — and helped the African-American win the gold medal — under the watch of Adolf Hitler's hate-filled Nazi regime.
The Olympics, you see, is a universal language. So many athletes from around the globe dream about the ultimate triumph and when it happens, thousands of others nod their heads in approval and admiration. No words really need to be spoken.
"She doesn't understand a thing I'm saying and yet, we're both fighting for the same thing," Canadian fencer Sherraine Schalm told the CBC is describing what the word 'Olympian' means to her.
Over the next 17 days, China will be taken to task for its dreadful human rights record, and rightfully so. Others will wonder out loud how such a repressive nation was ever awarded the Olympics in the first place. Many have done so already.
If that's your agenda for these Games, so be it. There is probably no better or bigger stage to put China under the ultimate microscope.
Call me naive, but I prefer to focus on the picture I saw earlier today. Thousands of athletes from all corners of the globe, united as one, no matter their gender or religion or political persuasion. Standing side by side in the spirit of sportsmanship and competition and friendship.
That's the kind of world I want to live in someday.
Not just for two weeks, but each and every day.
Sadly, I doubt I'll live long to ever see it.
Maybe that's why I'll savour these days in Beijing while they last.