May God Have Mercy On Your Achilles

So long as religion has been discussed, the question has persisted: How can God exist when terrible things happen in the world, such as war, cancer, or an old soccer player suffering an injury?

Such is the deep philosophical question posed by Megan Rapinoe, who blew out her Achilles tendon just minutes into her final game before retirement. Her team then went on to lose the championship game. Bitter and spiteful, as always, Rapinoe declared in her post-game press conference that “I’m not a religious person or anything, and if there was a God, like, this is proof that there isn’t.”

Then again, perhaps God merely has a sense of humor. Or He hates soccer. Who are we to question His actions and His vision for us all?

On a more real note, there are far more concerns about Rapinoe’s heart and soul than her soon-to-be surgically repaired Achilles. Rapinoe has spent the last several years as a bitter, toxic political voice, expressing her contempt for her country and half of the people who live in it. Just about every prominent publicly recorded statement of hers over the past few years has expressed her greed or her contempt for her fellow man. It’s fitting that it all ends with her metaphorically shaking her fist at God Himself.

Mockery has followed Rapinoe’s comments, as she oh so deserves, but she deserves some grace as well. The last several years of her professional soccer career have been spent as a political culture warrior fueled by rage at the world. Her soul deserves some rest after spending years in a perpetual state of politics-induced anger. For her sake, we should hope that God speaks to her in her retirement.