It happened at the Olympic Games in 1912.
I know I could write history lessons faster if I didn’t enjoy the process so much. I do love the bunny trails. Would you join me on this one?
I’ve been working on a lesson on Jim Thorpe. He was a member of the Sac and Fox tribe from Oklahoma (Indian Territory back then). Thorpe won two gold medals at the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. The next Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020 are number XXXII. The Games in Stockholm were number V.
It was easy to learn about Thorpe’s childhood, about how he became an athlete, and about what happened after the Olympic Games, but I wanted to know details about the games themselves. Before I finally found the details I was looking for, I had no intention of including anything about the opening ceremonies of the 1912 Games. Read this description I wrote for my lesson, and you’ll know why I changed my mind.
Opening Ceremony of the 1912 Olympic Games
The Olympic Games began with the opening ceremony on July 6. King Gustav V and his queen entered the stadium. A band played the Swedish national anthem. The 2,408 Olympic competitors from twenty-eight countries marched into the stadium. A huge choir sang a hymn. The king’s personal minister preached a brief sermon. A member of the British Olympic Committee said a prayer. The crowd stood and sang, “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.” Crown Prince Gustav VI gave a few remarks. King Gustav V declared the games open. Trumpeters in ancient costumes blew their trumpets. The games began.
Wouldn’t you love to go back in history and relive that moment? Wouldn’t you love to hear the crowd in that stadium singing “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”? Wouldn’t you love for the Tokyo Games to start with hymns, a prayer, and a sermon? Appropriate, energetic, and thrilling ones, of course!
We can’t change culture in a flash, but we can make one change at a time in our own lives. We can make one change at a time in our communities. We can teach our children how things used to be. We can introduce them to the Savior of the world. We can use our homeschool freedom to include what is absolutely most important and what is absolutely most life-changing for our children. We can break free of the world’s mold and fit into God’s mold.
No, we can’t change the world, but we can make small changes while we trust the God Who can change the world.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
Psalm 145:17
For the kingdom is the Lord’s
And He rules over the nations.
Psalm 22:28
The Lord has established His throne in the heavens,
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Psalm 103:19