The Best of Intentions
July 23,
2021: Today marks the beginning of the International Olympics in Tokyo. The Olympics were originally scheduled for 2019
but were delayed for a full year due to the global Covid pandemic that, to this
day, has not been brought under control and has morphed into ever more virulent
strains that seem to be finding ways of penetrating the defenses of both the
human body and the best that medical science can throw up as barriers.
As the opening ceremonies get under way, it is
painfully obvious that these will not be the “usual” or “normal” games for the
32nd Olympiad. Hundreds of protectively
masked athletes enter an almost completely empty stadium, capable of seating
over 60,000 spectators. One must admit
that the image projected is of a stage show where actors try their best to play
their parts hoping that, at the end of the data stream that is the internet or
the broadcast channel, there is an appreciative audience and those who will be
inspired for their years of training, sacrifice and efforts. In this regard, it
is a statement that in all things of such importance, “the show must go on”. Also, it is a parody of the real life “theater”
that we are all part of where we must, through our best efforts and best
intentions, do all that we can to help our global “show” go on.
