Tour de Cheat

Aubrey and I have been locked into this year's Tour de France. It has truly been amazing to watch these cyclists go at it and strive for the championship. This last week there have been 2 instances where cyclists have been disqualified for using performance enhancing drugs of some kind. The tour leader was actually one of the two.

I really can identify with these guys. I think what I identify a lot with is that delusion that everyone else is doing something wrong to get ahead, and I'm getting burned, so to 'get even' I'll also do whatever it takes to win. That sense of being overly suspicious and believing the worst in others really wreaks havoc on my soul, and affects my behavior more than I would like it to. I can only imagine these guys, training so had, and the prestige that comes from winning even one stage, willing to do whatever it takes to win.

I guess the ministry connection I am making as I process this is how in ministry we don't disclose our 'secrets' to others often times. Because of that, it can often create high insecurity in others when they see success in other people, yet do not quite know the cause. I'm reading a book on business leadership, and the author says that candor, honesty, is probably the most underrated component in healthy working teams. The lack of candor and the stakes involved seem two powerful ingredients to facilitating cheating--whether it's taking a blood transfusion or something else, the root is the same.