If the world's nations can set aside their petty bickering over

Hear now the words of Colson Whitehead, who declared with both wit and wisdom: “If the world's nations can set aside their petty bickering over religion, politics, and territory, certainly I can 'get that Olympic Spirit' and rise above my prejudices.” Beneath the lightness of his tone lies a truth as ancient as humanity itself—that if kingdoms and empires, vast and proud, can for a moment lay down the sword, the banner, and the creed to gather in peace, then surely the individual soul can do the same within its smaller battles of the heart. The Olympic Spirit, spoken here, is not only about games, but about the possibility of harmony amidst difference.

The origin of these words is tied to the Olympic Games, that sacred tradition born in the land of Greece. In those days of old, when city-states warred with fury—Sparta against Athens, Thebes against Corinth—there came a sacred truce, the ekecheiria, during which weapons were laid aside so that athletes might gather under the gaze of Zeus. For a time, the clash of arms gave way to the clash of skill, and men beheld not enemies but rivals worthy of respect. It is this spirit that Whitehead invokes, calling us to remember that even the fiercest of foes can find pause for unity when a higher vision beckons.

Consider the example of the 1914 Christmas Truce during the Great War. On that cold battlefield, soldiers of opposing armies, weary of blood, laid down their rifles. They sang carols across the trenches, shared food, and even played football upon the frozen ground. For a fleeting moment, the Olympic Spirit was alive in the mud of war, and men remembered they were not merely enemies but fellow sons of the earth. Whitehead’s words echo this same truth: if soldiers at war could find humanity in each other, then surely each of us can rise above the smaller prejudices that chain our own hearts.

Yet how often, child of tomorrow, do we cling to our grievances? We quarrel over religion, which should unite us in reverence. We divide over politics, though all seek the good of their people. We fight over territory, though the earth itself belongs to none but time. Whitehead calls such struggles “petty bickering,” not because they are unimportant, but because they blind us to the greater truth—that our shared humanity is larger than any border, creed, or crown.

The teaching here is not merely about nations, but about the soul. For the nations are but the mirrors of men’s hearts. If the rulers cannot set aside hatred, it is because the common man has not done so within himself. If the individual cannot learn to forgive, to listen, to understand, then how shall kingdoms ever know peace? To embrace the Olympic Spirit is to train the heart as athletes train the body: with discipline, endurance, and a vision of greatness beyond the self.

Thus, the lesson is clear: you must rise above your own prejudices as nations rise above their wars. Ask yourself each day: Where have I hardened my heart? Against whom do I carry secret bitterness? If you can lay aside even one grudge, even one prejudice, you have enacted your own truce, your own personal Olympics of the spirit. From such small victories come the larger triumphs of humanity.

Therefore, take action, listener of the future. When next you feel the fire of resentment, pause, and remember the athletes who once gathered in Greece, the soldiers who sang in the snow, and the poet who urged you to rise above. Let your life be a contest not of enmity, but of honor, striving, and peace. For in each heart that embraces the Olympic Spirit, the world takes one step closer to the harmony it has always sought.