czech

legacy – václav havel

December 19, 2011 by zharrod

Since my grandfather passed last week, I’ve been considering legacy and what it means to have a lasting legacy. It’s been rather introspective and I think that it has been healthy for me. Asking yourself questions like, “What do I want my legacy to be?” or “If I were to leave this world today, what would be legacy be, how would people remember me?”, can produce change and resolve in your life. I had begun thinking about this as I sat on the 10 hour flight from Munich to Chicago on Wednesday, but yesterday waking up to the news of Václav Havel passing was another wave hitting me. (Havel was the first president of Czechoslovakia and then Czech Republic after the fall of communism, as well as a notable dissident that helped lead to the collapse of communism in then Czechoslovakia. Here’s a wiki page on him.)

I never met Havel, although I wish I could have met him, but his legacy and life impacted this kid from Lake Geneva, WI that lives, and calls home, Havel’s homeland. Sadly, some over look the impact Havel had and some question it. Or better, some question the man himself. I’m not claiming the Havel was a saint, he was a broken man like you and I, but there have been a few Czechs throughout history (another couple are Jan Hus and Jan Amos Komenský, or John Amos Comenius, to just name a couple.) that I admire and I pray that there would be more Czechs like them. Czechs that exhibit and embody the same values and qualities that made these Czechs heroes!

My director, wrote on Facebook last night, “Where are the Havels of this generation?” I would love to see “Havels” of this generation, “Havels” that aren’t concerned about themselves, but their countrymen and strive for higher virtues than “what’s best for me.” To my Czech friends, and non-Czech friends too, I would challenge you all to honor the legacy of Havel, by striving for, living out and embodying the ideas, values and virtues that made Havel the culture changer that he was! That is honoring his legacy! Yes, mourn and remember him, but remember him and honor him, by being the change that the Czech Republic so badly needs! By the way, my prayer is that the same passion that was seen last night on Wenceslas Square and throughout Prague, and the country, would be put into practice and lived out with passion! Here’s a moving video of last night’s celebrations of Havel, his life and his passing.

I have watched that video several times. As I watch it I pray for the country, I call home now, that something deep will happen. I pray that God would use the passing of this influential man to change the Czech Republic and ultimately draw more people to Himself. Please pray with me to this extent!

Here’s a couple of notable quotes from the man who helped change the course of history in the Czech Republic:

“Love and truth must triumph over hate and lies.”

“The tragedy of modern man is not that he knows less and less about the meaning of his own life, but that it bothers him less and less.”

“Man is in fact nailed down — like Christ on the Cross — to a grid of paradoxes . . . he balances between the torment of not knowing his mission and the joy of carrying it out, between nothingness and meaningfulness. And like Christ, he is in fact victorious by virtue of his defeats.”

“The only lost cause is one we give up on before we enter the struggle.”

“You do not become a “dissident” just because you decide one day to take up this most unusual career. You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances. You are cast out of the existing structures and placed in a position of conflict with them. It begins as an attempt to do your work well, and ends with being branded an enemy of society.”

That’s just scratching the surface of the quotes you can find, click here to find more.

thanks vaclav!

June 26, 2009 by zharrod

I’ve said it before, I like former Czech president, Vaclav Havel. I’m not going to lie, I think the man is intriguing. Do I agree with everything he says, or has said, or does, or has done? Absolutely not! He is indeed a broken and imperfect man, like myself, but the man still intrigues me. Some time ago I shared some quotes and thoughts from Havel on Life Post-Communism and recently, courtesy of Bloomberg.com, we have some more thoughts from him. Last week I read an article over at Bloomberg.com, entitled, Havel Laments Czech Future as ‘Consumer Palaces’ Occupy Nation and I was once again intrigued and even encouraged by Havel.

palaces and the new cathedrals

Czechs are building “palaces of consumerism” that will occupy a third of the country in the next two decades, politicians can’t see farther than the next opinion poll and mobsters and money-changers have become the new economic elite, Havel said in an interview yesterday.

“Not many of us thought the door would be opened so quickly to all the mafiosi and back-street money-changers” who have now become “millionaires and billionaires,” he said. “We are living in the first truly atheistic society, and there’s no feeling that there is any kind of moral anchor.”

First off, it must be said, that in much of my reading and study of Czech history, that the cathedrals that you see all over the city of Prague or the country, for the most part were never full, but they served more as political statements of the ruling party, the Habsburgs (whom were Catholics), against Bohemian protestants. With that said, I won’t say that the malls have become the ‘new’ cathedrals replacing the actual cathedrals of this country, but I will say in many ways, Havel’s statement of “palaces of consumerism” is very true. I would even argue that, for the most part, these are the new cathedrals of Czech. They are places, where Czechs now find their identity, their meaning and more, and as the article says they are spreading and consuming the country at a frantic rate. This makes me wonder how the Gospel must be contextualized into this new trend.

It brings me back to something I’ve heard Keller say and I shared with our project this summer. A better way to communicate the need for the Gospel (sin), is in terms of idolatry. (Click here for a pdf from the Gospel Coalition from Keller on Idolatry in a Postmodern Age.) The essence of sin is idolatry when we elevate a good thing (a created) thing to an ultimate thing and thus we worship it. These new ‘palaces of consumerism’ that are taking over this country have been elevated to an ultimate thing, and at the end of the day they will leave the Czech people, and myself, left wanting.

How could I not find it intriguing when Havel said, “We are living in the first truly atheistic society” that lacks any moral foundation. Some might be critical of what ‘religion’ has done to the world, and I would agree. In the name of ‘religion’ or ‘God’ horrible things have been done and I lament over those many things, but something must be said of a culture that lacks “any kind of moral anchor.” When this happens, you see the things that Havel laments over – corruption, greed, lying and more. So my question to my Czech friends, or critics of ‘religion,’ is, “How is it working?” (NOTE: I say ‘religion’ because personally, I’m not fan of religion. Religion is man’s efforts to get to God to appease something above through doing so I will get out of this or that. I’m not down with that. I’m in a relationship with a God who has done what is needed, and in response to his doing, I give him myself.) I don’t ask this smugly, but brokenly, with a longing to see people here turn to something greater than the gods of consumerism, or even a presumed freedom of sorts (yes, even freedom, which is a ‘good thing’ can be elevated to an ultimate thing!). Is it working? And if it isn’t working, what must be done? Is there anything? I would not have relocated my whole life here if I did not believe in the depths of my soul that there is an alternative to all this!

it takes time

“When you have a beautiful table, or a piece of furniture, it can be kicked to bits in half a minute, but it takes weeks, months, to put it all together again,” Havel said.

It’s from this quote that I received much encouragement! Yes, Havel is referring to political change, and to a degree cultural change, but I can take heart in this quote. “Why?” Because it would seem as of late that I’ve been struggling with how hard it is to do “my job” or “work” here. In the midst of life – seeing people leave, being discouraged by not seeing results like I (we) would like to see, the difficulty of learning the language and more – I have felt discouragement creep in because ‘things’ don’t happen here on my ‘American timetable.’ I forget that it “takes weeks, months, to put it all together” and want to do it in a weekend. I was encouraged by this analogy, for this reason. It would be easy to tear the table apart or just throw it away because it would take too much time, or I could roll up my sleeves, get out my sander and other tools and go to work, realizing that it won’t happen in a day or a weekend but weeks or months – i.e. seeing lasting change here in this place isn’t going to happen in a short-term trip, or in a year of STINT, but years invested deeply, where I continue to trust God and roll up my sleeves, grab the lunch box and go to work.

Thank you Vaclav for your thoughts and encouragements! Even if you didn’t attend it (which I know you didn’t), or even if you think I’m a crackpot for what I believe and/or why I am here, my God used your words to give me some more insight on you and your countrymen, more ways to pray for you and your countrymen and also a heavy dose of encouragement. Thanks Vaclav!

“i like the morals?”

January 28, 2009 by zharrod

You might be wondering, “Where did Zach find that quote he used in the teaser video?” Or you may not, but either way I wanted to share it with you. My friends, whom I’ve met in passing, with Avant, used it in a piece they had created at one point and I just had to find the article (thanks for the help Kelly!). The article is entitled, Liberated Czechs find freedom, lose religion, and it’s over at The Age. The opening quote of the article – Saints peek out from alleys. Angels fleck the skyline. In stone and marble, God’s mysteries reside in this city’s architecture. But try finding him in the skeptical Czech soul. – is what I used and it is very fitting of Prague and the country as a whole.

It’s a very interesting article and I don’t want to take the time to blog about all of it, because you should just go read it now! However, I do want to add a little commentary to one portion. The author, of the piece, quotes a woman who previously worked in radio, as a religious programmer,

“What’s lacking here is the aura of Christian morals,” she said. “People have forgotten that right and wrong stem from Christianity.

“People cheat on their employers. They cheat on each other. The egoism is unbelievable. It’s me, me, me.”

First off, (without getting into a huge discussion) “right and wrong” do not stem, merely, from “Christianity” but from God. Who is the source and essence of truth, who has imparted a moral code to each and every human being, because we are each created in His image (see Romans 1:18-31 and Genesis 1:26-27). I think what she was referencing is that this culture, or European culture as a whole, was formed and rose to prominence on the foundations of Judeo-Christian ethics, and now that much of Europe is forsaking Christianity, there is a void there. I agree with that.

I actually hear things like this quote often. Off the top of my head, I can think of two conversations, immediately, that I’ve had, one with a teammate and another with a teammate’s mother. Both conversations (one of which was completely in Czech!!!), hinged on the loss of morals within the Czech culture. Both individuals told me that, my work is valuable because Christian morals are valuable and this place so needs them. It was interesting hearing this from two different generations! One generation, has teenage children and the other generation is that – a teenager. Both were talking about the biggest problem here is the lack of morals and no foundation. The, attempted, ‘removal of God’ from this place has left a moral vacuum, that many, most of which are atheists, acknowledge as terribly dangerous to the culture at large. I was reminded of this last night, as I received a ride home from a teammate, and the joke within the car was that the word ‘verný’ (faithful) doesn’t exist here, or, in their opinion, in many places. Sadly, there probably is truth to that!

It’s a bridge to spiritual conversation for sure, but it is a challenge to help them see past ‘Christian morals.’ This is what ‘Christianity,’ as a system, gets us. I’m talking about more than just a system! I’m talking about God, breaking into the world through human flesh and living a radical life of love and service, that was ultimately in service to me, as God, Himself, hung a criminal’s death on wooden posts! It’s a revolution of the heart. It’s a complete upheaval of the ‘world’s system’ and our lives, not some system of rules or 1+2=3 formula of sorts. It’s vibrant. It’s alive. It blows systems up! Cultural change cannot happen from systems, or laws passed, but from followers of this Radical, known as Jesus, going into the world and being used as part of the revolution, He has already started, through words and deeds! Not systems!

Wow! I got a little fired up there. I hope this all makes sense and it challenges you a bit. I hope it also helps you know how to pray for this place that YOU AND I, TOGETHER, are attempting to reach! Thanks for stopping by….

an american-czech is inspiration for us

September 19, 2008 by zharrod

For those of you that know me, and have heard my presentation about ministry here, know my three overarching purposes with AIA here in Czech are:

To see a nation return to it’s spiritual roots and know Jesus as Savior and Lord.
A movement that is led solely by Czechs.
To see Czechs being sent into the world and reaching people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.

That is what I dream of, pray for and labor towards. This week while reading Radio Praha I stumbled upon an article, The Jan Hus Church in New York – a remnant of the Upper East Side’s Czech past, about a church in New York name after the famous Czech Reformer, Jan Hus (learn more about Jan Hus). I enjoyed most of the article, but really enjoyed the portion about a Czech immigrant to America that served as the pastor at this church for some time. This week, he served as some inspiration for me and the thrid purpose I’m here in Czech – To see Czechs being sent into the world and reaching people of every tribe, tongue, and nation. This man’s name was Vincent Pisek and he was the pastor of Jan Hus Church in New York. Well, I’m not going to recount it all, here is an excerpt from the article about him:

In what sense was he amazing?

“Oh my goodness. He was a tireless worker, he went all over the country in the summers – he traveled all over the world, actually. He helped found churches all over the United States, in Czech communities, and helped nurture them along. He really cultivated the sense of Czech culture…with music, he was a great music fan and he really fostered that here.”

Vincent Pisek was indeed a remarkable man. He became pastor at only 23 and, as we’ve been hearing, remained in the post for nearly five decades. Part of his work involved finding ministers to send out to newly founded Czech parishes in the “Wild West”, while Pastor Pisek also helped set up various Slavic societies and organized missions to Serbia during World War I. He also undertook a dangerous trip to Siberia in 1919-1920 to offer encouragement to members of the Czechoslovak Legion there, many of whom had not been home for six years. The minister made an influential friend in Dale Carnegie, who contributed funds to the Jan Hus Church’s Neighborhood House.

Pastor Pisek died in 1930. The plaque in his honor on the front of the church reads: “His ministry of fifty years was the means of advancing the cause of Christian religion and good citizenship among the Czechoslovak people of New York and throughout the United States.”

So cool. He was sent out to Slavs all over the United States, and even the world, and I’m sure in his journeys he had many opportunities to love on many other people, beyond just Slavs. As I sat reading the article I couldn’t help but pray that God would raise up more Vincent Pisek to cultivate community, reach Czechs, and also take this same spirit all over the world. What a cool piece of encouragement. I was disappointed to read more about Pastor Pisek’s church today. For instance, this sentence, “In terms of our theology we have a very progressive theology, and we’d like to believe that the forward thinking and spirit of the Hussites is still here.” What? I’m not sure how Jan Hus would feel about this, because he was returning to what the Scripture had to say not, what they were dreaming up. It was just a reminder about how striving for progressiveness in the wrong areas – i.e. theology – is dangerous. That’s why I’m down with being “orthodox in theology but progressive in methodology.” Besides this, the article was a great encouragement for me and has me praying again for this place…

new Bible!

September 15, 2008 by zharrod

As of today, I have another (yes another) pocket Bible that you will be able to find in my “I-carry-my-bible-books-moleskine(s)-and-wallet-in-it-bag” (not a “murse”) that I’m stoked about. Not so much, because it will help me learn this language, that some days feels impossible to learn, but because of the great things that could happen with it in this country!

About a year ago, I wrote a post, entitled Czechs’ spirituality, Life Change and the Bible…, about Sasa (Alexander) Flek, who was heading up a new translation. Well, it’s done! It should be, from what I hear, released in full by the end of the year and there are already several expressions of it out now. One of those expressions is the Novy Zakon/New Testament version that I am overjoyed to own! On one page the new NBK version (The New Bible of Kralice, or Nova Bible Kralicka) and on the other page the NLT (New Living Translation). So great! As I said, I’m stoked how this will help me, but even more stoked to stock pile these Bibles and give them out like mad to the young men I work with. Tonight I started reading the Gospel of Matthew and was very impressed with the translation. So impressed it’s hard to wait to simply get more that I can give out. Please pray that God would honor the work of Sasa and everyone that put so much time, money, love and much more into this translation. I always talk about wanting, praying for, yearning for, and laboring for a Revolution centered around the person of Jesus here in this city and country and God has given us, through the work of these dear people, a tool to help us move towards that. Please, please pray that God would use this to that extent and that lives, and this country as a whole, would be changed forever!

Anyway, I need to get to bed. Check out the website (click here) and check out the video about the translation, the translation work and a large dose of what it is like here in the Czech Republic. Yearning…

islamophobia in czech?

September 13, 2008 by zharrod

Really? Is there? I didn’t know this was actually happening here in Czech. According to an article, Czech Muslims complaining about Islamophobia, from the Czech News Agency some would say it does exist. If you have, the time to read the whole article you will see that there is much debate about this and many disagree if it is or isn’t present. However, I have noticed more veiled women in the city than ever before, going back to my first summers spent here in ’02 and ’03 or to my 18 months in ’04 and ’05. It has been interesting to see. Immigration numbers are up, and that means other cultures and religions will be brought into the larger Czech context. Some Czechs are very skeptical about immigration and “outsiders” coming in (which is easy to understand from a historical point because this went for centuries here and it hardly ever produced positive results) and what that will do to their country. See one of the things that communism prevented here in Czech was immigration. Because of this, immigration, for the most part, is a fairly new thing here. Although there are periods of the history of the Czech lands, especially Prague, where the city was much more multi-cultural than even now (relatively speaking of course). This changing fairly quickly now and it has been interesting to see what has transpired. I don’t know what to think about this presumed Islamophobia, that may or may not be here. Here are a few quotes that I thought I would share with you, that really made me think:

“The situation of the growing hatred and xenophobia has escalated to such an extent that it is necessary to launch a national debate on the phenomenon,” Lukas Lhotjan from Libertas Independent Agency says.

According to these polls, 60 percent of Czechs are afraid of danger coming from Muslims and almost half of Czechs are afraid of a direct terrorist attack.

Three-quarters of Czechs do not want to allow Muslims to build mosques in the Czech Republic although they have no negative experience with them. The reason is a mere prejudice that “is being fueled by the media,” the report says.

Judging from what is said in those quotes you can see why some are raising concern. Concern should be raised, but this is a very, very, dangerous discussion. On one hand you can see why there is concern because there are radicals, but on the other hand there are people who just want a better life than what they had so they immigrate to Europe to find that. Now there very well could be a fine line between to the two parties, or a very blurry line. This has been wrote about and spoke about much (click here for another post) and I even have 3 books on my shelf about it that I haven’t got to yet. It could be very scary in the years ahead, in that vein I read this:

If you ever wanted to see Paris or Rome before you die, but haven’t had a chance to do so, you might want to hurry. Soon enough, most of what we now think of as Western Europe will be transformed into a branch of the Muslim world, which is sure to make it an even less welcoming place for Americans, Israelis and for Jews. (read whole article)

That is concerning and you can see how these fears lead to things, ideas and actions throughout Europe. I think we must be mindful of this, but also we must see this as an opportunity! That is how I want to look at it. The Middle East is coming, and has come, to Europe. We can either foster harsh feelings towards them, or see this an opportunity to love and see Jesus do something much larger than we could imagine. Last fall, we had Josh McDowell come and spend an afternoon with our staff here, and in respects to the low European birthrates, the high birth rates amongst Muslim immigrants, and the growing secularism of Europe, he said the only thing for us to do, is do what we are doing – loving Christ and loving people. In the face of all this I will choose to love Christ and love people, and leave the rest up to Him to take care all of the details….

where’s their daddies?

September 13, 2008 by zharrod

Over the last year or so, I’ve posted several times on the frighteningly low birth rates in Europe and here in Czech (click here for pasts). This week I read another interesting article, One third of Czech children now born out of wedlock, that threw another layer on top of this discussion – where’s the daddies? It was eye opening to read this, but then again it wasn’t because marriage numbers are on the decline and co-habitation numbers are climbing gradually. If you put these two things together, it would equal children being born out of wedlock. Here are the numbers, from the article:

In the Czech Republic, 39,674 children were born out of wedlock in 2007, which accounted for 34.5 percent of all the children born in that year. Our institute has been monitoring the numbers of extramarital-born children continuously since 1919; in the 1920s and 1930s, around 12 percent of children were born outside marriage, while in the period of 1938 – 1990, their numbers ranged between four and ten percent. At the end of the 1980s, the share of children born out of wedlock began to rise, and this tendency has been persistent ever since.

This should not surprise us though. As communism force fed godlessness down the people’s throats, but still imposed a pretty strict “some what” moralistic code (except for themselves, the leaders, of course). Once communism fell and that moralistic code (which consisted of more “traditional” things – i.e. marriage) was lifted to a degree as “freedom” rolled in accompanied with consumerism and fighting to get more and more money, there was a huge shift here. Things like marriage are not valued nearly as highly as in the past, but that isn’t unique to Czech. It’s happened all over the Western World. I truly believe with the rising tide of godlessness (that stills exists, even post-communism) and secularization of Europe this will continue to become worse and worse.

Due to this, it makes me want to pray, pray, pray that God would move here in Czech and throughout Europe. What can change this “problem?” I don’t think it will come from government programs, set up to give major incentives to couples who have children. There are countries all over Europe realizing there is a huge problem and not enough kids so they are rewarding people with pretty impressive incentives (read an article from the Washington Post about this in German and elsewhere, or here is another once entitled, Paying Women to Have Children). For instance, one of my dear friends over the last year, that I studied Czech with, was here for a year because his country gave him paternity leave, and paid up to 80% of his salary for a year! Now I’m thankful this exists there, because it enabled me to meet this friend, but I’ve wondered will programs like these really work? Or is there something else? Is there a better answer to the dangerously low birth rates throughout Europe? Here is another interesting quote from the article about the current Czech rate in relationship to Europe’s numbers.

For the future, Czech fertility is at risk of being even lower than today because in the past, it was women with basic education who had the highest average number of children. And because today, around 60 percent of those women have children out of wedlock, those women will not have more children. This phenomenon might in the future decrease the overall fertility level in the Czech Republic. Today, we have 1.4 – which is below the European average – and my guess is that this could be between 1.2 and 1.3.

As I’ve read many articles and followed this as of late, I couldn’t help but be concerned. See the “magic number” we need to see is 2.1 children born and as you can see Czech, and Europe as a whole, are well below that. What will this mean? How will the immigrants to these countries effect things? What needs to be done? There are so many questions, but one thing I know for sure, there needs to be an awakening in this city, in this country, and on this continent to really see lasting change. The governments try and try and try, but I’m nearly convinced that these programs will not, on a long term basis, produce the change they are actually going for. I think the change they are going for rest in Someone that can bring true lasting change, and I will labor here to that extent…

the one year mark

September 4, 2008 by zharrod

Today, believe it or not, is the one year mark for my return “home” or back to Prague! I can’t believe it’s already been a year! So much has transpired in the last 365 days that as I thought about a year in Prague and putting something on my blog about I didn’t know where to start or what to do. How do you attempt to sum up a year like I’ve gone through, or any year for that matter, in the last year. As I sit here looking back and reflecting over the last year I’m so grateful for what God has done, both in the ups and the downs. I think one of the biggest things that hits home with me as of late is what God taught me about my “romanticized view” of returning to Prague, that I included in my May/June monthly prayer letter. I wrote:

I have a confession, while I was away from Prague, I had a “romanticized view” of the many things back here, especially with the Lions. I think this is a common epidemic amongst human beings; we do it in a variety of ways – marriage (if we’re single), kids, singleness (once we are married, looking back, or so I’m told), and much more. Well, this year wore out my romanticized view of the Lions and has brought a HUGE degree of reality to my life and ministry with the team.

As I sit looking ahead, over what God would do, could do, in the next year I sit with a much more grounded view, but yet I’m so very optimistic to see what God is going to do. As I include pics that attempt to sum up the last year, I wonder what images will sum up the next year of life in Prague. It should be exciting to see what transpires! Thank you to each of you who pray and support what WE (that is you and I partnering together with God) do here in Prague, Europe and beyond!

Back in Prague with new friends – my roomdawg (Ernie), Mark and Jason.

I was so excited to see how God had moved in Ondra’s life while I was gone and I also dove head long into learning Czech in a class room that consisted of Chinese, Koreans, a Swede and myself.

I loved jumping back into coaching and loving on my junior team guys! Pray that God would move in their hearts!

Last fall was interesting, because I was waiting, and waiting for my shipment to come with all my stuff, it came 4 months after it was scheduled and I was so very happy that it arrived! I also was blessed to spend a week on holiday with dear Crusade friends in Athens, which was a much needed break between semesters of language class.

The second semester of Czech class brought presentations, these pics (with Gustav’s [me Swedish classmate who used to play] try to represent my attempt of trying to explain American football in Czech!

It was also a blast attending the Story of the Soul conference and working with my Polish friends on a presentation about being “World Changers”.

It was awesome to partner with my teammate and friend, Šimmí, as we taught 15 or so kids how to play American football. It was also so much fun to celebrate Gustav’s birthday with him. He makes me proud to say I have Swedish blood in my veins!

This summer also brought a visit from my very dear friends, Andy and Chelsey Garrett, that was so very refreshing. Then of course, work took me to the “Far East” which I could have never have imagined.

The Chinese loved us foreigners, it was strange feeling like a rock star! I was blessed to take my friend and teammate, Honza, with me for a life changing couple of weeks! Lastly, a short lay over in Moscow, just made me scratch my head and wonder…

Thanks for sharing the last year of life with me! May God bring a revolutionary next year!

not enough golds = limited funding?

September 3, 2008 by zharrod

This week I read an article about the Czech Prime Minister’s, Mirek Topolánek, disappointment with Czech’s low medal showing in Beijing which really hit home, in my opinion, about what having a bad view of sport is. From what I read it would seem that WINNING is what matters. Now I’m all for winning, but is that the “Olympic Spirit”. It can, again in my opinion, be said that this was China’s goal for the games, or for that matter many countries. It was a classic case of Lombardi’s (extreme) position of “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.” I know, I know, he might have been misquoted and meant to say, “Winning isn’t everything. The will to win is the only thing.” Either way sportsmen and women across this world have lived the “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing” life and it leaves them wrecked in the end, because it’s simply not true. Well here are a couple of interesting quotes, about this played out here in Czech, that I found interesting.

Few sports fans in the Czech Republic will forget the recent Beijing Olympics, where the country notched up six medals, three silver and three gold. The games featured a number of gripping stories, including the very first gold medal win of the games by shooter Kate?ina Emmons as well as Barbora Špotáková’s stunning last-minute win in the javelin. Yet days since the Olympics ended, the country’s prime minister, Mirek Topolánek, has now expressed disappointment. On Wednesday, Mladá fronta Dnes writes, he stated flatly that Czechs should have won more medals, given how much money the state spends on sport. He made clear, too, that there could now be changes to come.

“I have no problem with those who provide the funding managing how funds are spent. That’s their right. But to suggest that our athletes did too little just days after the Olympics, that’s simply insulting. Sport isn’t math, and even the best–trained and most talented athletes, after hundreds of hours of training, can come up short. I can’t imagine what we’d say to other excellent athletes, such as US shooter Mathew Emmons, if he were Czech. He had the misfortune of losing gold – not once, but twice – at the Olympics.”

what’s in a name?

September 3, 2008 by zharrod

Not too long ago I posted a rant (it’s czech people!) about people on both sides of the political divide in the States calling my home, and the place I love dearly, Czechoslovakia. Which it hasn’t been since January 1, 1993, but that’s okay continue to call it Czechoslovakia… No, no, no! In fact, to help us all out, here is a wiki article, Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, to enlighten us all about the so-called “Velvet Divorce” between, the now, Czech Republic and Slovakia.

I also have a little more to help us in our journey of recognizing this very dear country as the Czech Republic. This week over at Radio Praha, an article was posted, Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic or Czechia – what’s in a name?, that should help us on this journey. Here is one quote that I wanted to share with you:

“Well, there are a couple of aspects to it. One is, that it used to be Czechoslovakia, so there are people who were born in Czechoslovakia and there are people who consider themselves Czechoslovaks. And there are certain agreements and events that actually took place in Czechoslovakia. So when you are talking about Czechoslovakia, you should properly speak about Czechoslovakia. The problem comes when people don’t realise that there was a transition and they think that they are talking about Czechoslovakia and in fact they are talking about the Czech Republic, which is difficult in and of itself, and that is where all the confusion comes in of course.”

I must admit that I know this is a hard one and I can show grace, but there is part of me that feels that its my duty to help many distinguish my new home from a country formerly called Czechoslovakia! Here is a map as well, which should will help us locate where we are in the world here in the Czech Republic.

As you can see we are, probably, the most centrally located country (and Prague is probably the most centrally located city) in all of Europe. We are no where near Former Yugoslavia. Well, I’m off to a staff meeting and prayer… Thanks for stop by zACHhARROD.com for this history/geography lesson!

DisclaimerI hope you pick up my sarcasm and realize that I’m just having some fun, while trying to make a slight point. Thanks for understanding! Blessings…

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