Today, the story hit the paper that Floyd Landis has come clean. He did use drugs, he says, ubiquitously. How sad! How non-Lancastrian! There are a number of troubling elements in this tale. I name only a few (in their order of decent through the Inferno):
- Lust (for power and glory): Obviously, Floyd is willing to do just about anything to latch onto and keep glory. (Sadly, this last grasp at attention might be for attention sake—fame and infamy being rather closely related and a Splenda like substitute for those passed by true glory. For this he is blown by the strong, endless wind (not a head wind). But it gets much worse…
- Violence (to self): Floyd is obviously willing to wreck his own body (the very instrument that produces glory) in order to attain glory. The practices that he has admitted to are grotesque. He is something of a self indulgent vampire (storing and gorging on his own blood). He is also mixing male and female hormones in his body (masking one with the other I hope). He is inducing his body to do things that have past it (by adding Growth Hormones to the mix). This deep level of discontent with HIS BODY should be both shocking and troubling as we ask questions about what athletics has become in our culture. For this he runs (not bikes) on the burning sand with flakes of fire searing him. But it gets much worse…
- Betrayer (of friends and compatriots): He is moving down this well with this, but I was shocked by his tossing of everyone else under the bus as part of his confession. His parents, good people obviously grieving and deceived, placed a sign outside of their house asking the press to leave them alone. They also reminded us of John 8 in which Christ says, “Let him who has no sin, cast the first stone.” If only Floyd would have listened to this advice! He is confessing sins while flinging endless strings of stones. Unseemly! Remember, that in the horrid encounter of the Pilgrim Dante with Count Uglino and Archbishop Roger (in which Uglino is eternally gnawing on Roger’s brain) both are betrayers, but Roger double-crossed his unwitting accomplice. I do not doubt that other bikers are dirty, but Floyd handled this so badly he deserves some head chomping.
- Betrayer (of homeland, family): This is right at the bottom of the frozen lake. Floyd came back here when he was in trouble. Many here forked over money for his defense believing in him. We were duped, but we did right. Trusting is good. His lying makes trusting the next guy (who might not be lying) more difficult. To do this, he must have a frozen heart.
I pray for Floyd Landis, son of our County, that he would come back to all of the good things that he traded in for false glory. I have no connection to him, but I fear for him. If I could talk with him, I would tell him this: Chuck all of the fame, move back to Farmersville quietly, become anonymous, ride your bike in the quiet of the morning through fields of Farmersville, see that the world is good (without glory, without fame, without fortune), remember the values your parents taught you, and find peace.
Tags: Local News
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I think what you said in the last paragraph (about what you would tell him) is true. In my times of biking through the countryside on quiet mornings I’ve thought: How could this serve the same purpose if I HAD to keep up with the guy in front of me to have a job, and if I needed to impress the world to keep any semblance of respect? The professional cycling world lacks reverie.
My soul aches for the Landis family! As a child I grew up in Farmersville. It was the Landis family that had the big van and took all of the neighborhood kids to Vacation Bible School at Martindale Mennonite. It was because of the Landis family the seed was birthed in my heart to trust Christ with my whole life. I didn’t raise my hand at the alter call that one summer, because I was deathly afraid the church would but a covering on my head. However, the message of salvation, hope, and redemption was so amazing to me even as a child of 8 or 9 years old. It was the first time I ever heard of the message. I remember all of us in the van singing with our whole hearts the songs we sung a Bible school. I have a specific memory of Floyd leading our little choir with a big smile on his face. I pray for my heart to not judge him now. I also pray that the message of salvation, hope, and redemption continues to penetrate his heart. I hope that Floyd experiences total redemption, and that the story of Floyd’s life doesn’t end on this sad note. I trust that it will not.