Thought for the Week

By Canon Philip Gray, St Margaret’s

SIR Tony McCoy was champion National Hunt jockey in Britain for twenty consecutive years. He won every major race as a jockey including the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In total he rode 4,358 winners. In 2010 he was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. He was knighted in this year’s New Years Honours List.

There were at least three things that made A P McCoy a great jockey. Firstly, he had remarkable stamina and perseverance. He certainly worked extremely hard and travelled long distances. As a jockey too he would energetically persevere in a race when probably many others would have given up. Secondly, McCoy made huge sacrifices to achieve greatness in his field. The most obvious of these was the maintenance of his race riding weight. At 5ft 10in tall he needed to maintain his weight at around 10 stone to race ride whilst also maintaining a very high level of fitness. This will have taken remarkable sacrifice and discipline. Thirdly, McCoy had an unprecedented ability to recover quickly from the inevitable falls he took race riding. Throughout his career he suffered many injuries but a mixture of courage and unbelievable determination enabled him to get over them more speedily than any normal person.

The fasting and spiritual disciplines of Lent can appear very unfashionable and unnecessarily gloomy to the modern person. However, it is important to remember that they are no more than a prelude and preparation for the celebration of Easter. There are times in life when it is right to “fast” and other times when it is right to celebrate and “feast”. An exceptional athlete like McCoy, though, shows that the virtues of perseverance, sacrifice and the strength to overcome our falls are ones worth cultivating. Through the persevering sacrifices of Lent we can learn more truly our dependence upon God and one another. Through careful self-denial we can also learn more deeply where life’s true priorities lie. We can also attain a greater spiritual strength which helps us to receive the mercy and love of God which enables us to overcome our mistakes and failures.

As St Paul says in 1 Corinthians “Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one.”