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After seven years of waiting and preparation, the Games of the XXX Olympiad are finally here. The mood in recent months teetered on a narrow fence between cynicism and anticipation, and it was unclear which way it would finally fall.
That was until the opening ceremony.
As millions of us watched in wonder, a joyous, witty, creative extravaganza unfolded before our eyes. From a bucolic idyll through the industrial revolution to the invention of the internet, from Bond to Bean to Beckham, from the National Health Service to children’s literature to pop music, it was a celebration of all that forms the heart, soul and identity of the United Kingdom. Much of it was incomprehensible to the rest of the world, but to most Brits, that simply added to its charm; we weren’t trying to explain ourselves, simply to celebrate ourselves.
Yet the ceremony itself left no doubt that human endeavours are rarely unequivocally good, positive or successful. Danny Boyle may dream that through creativity, technology, social care and sport we will be able to build ‘Jerusalem’ – the ‘world of real freedom and true equality’ – but in reality we are dogged by decay at every turn. Progress for some means pain and distress for others. Age and disease mean even the strongest and fittest wither and fade. The things and the people we love pass away and we are powerless to prevent it. Neither the Queen, James Bond, nor our world-class athletes can deliver the future we long for.
Yet all is not lost, for in the midst of the ceremony came the hymn ‘Abide with Me’, sung in full to a hushed stadium, accompanied by a flowing and beautiful dance. In the face of change and decay, sadness and fear, the lyrics pointed every man, woman and child who cared to listen in the direction of the One who can right all wrongs, who has promised to do so, and who has opened the offer to all who choose to accept it.
Danny Boyle, well done. You created a ceremony to make your nation proud. Your creativity, style and humour shone through and reminded us of the many reasons we have to celebrate. Above all, you pointed us – albeit unwittingly – to the only One who can make sense of it all, sustain us in life and renew us in death.
Jennie Pollock
Jennie Pollock is Media and Communications Editor for Newfrontiers UK, and a freelance writer. She tweets as @MissJennieP and blogs at newsong40.wordpress.com, where a version of this piece was first published.
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