Hockey Hero Is Unafraid

There’s been a lot of talk of hockey this week. The US Olympic men’s hockey team beat Canada for the first time since 1960.  I know we Canadians are a polite bunch, but that’s going to sting for a while.

It wasn’t the first time the country was united behind a single game and it won’t be the last.  Ask any hockey historian and they will all tell you that the biggest game of them all happened in 1972 when a team of Canadian NHL all stars took on a team from what was back then, the USSR.

In the final moments of that final game Paul Henderson scored the goal that defined a moment, a nation and the rest of Paul’s life.  The game was played almost 40 years ago, and Paul has talked about that goal almost every day since.  I had the opportunity to meet Paul once and when someone asked him about it he said simply “that’s the one thing everyone always wants to talk about.”

Recently, during an interview with the CBC Paul revealed that his is currently battling cancer. He spoke about the role faith plays in his life and in his current situation.  In the interview with CBC he said, “I have no angst in my body, no fear whatsoever.” You can watch the interview here.  I hope Paul knows that once again, all of Canada is behind him.  Earlier Paul talked to us about the role faith has played in his life in good times and bad:

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It’s pretty incredible that he can have that kind of hope in the face of illness. It can seem like an unusual response, but some would argue, it is a perfectly natural one.  In his book Soul Cravings, Erwin McManus writes, “aimlessness can sometimes lead to apathy and lack of purpose. But you were not made for these things; you were made for hope.”  It’s quite a bold statement, to say that we are made, designed, for hope.  So often when health fails or finances fall into ruin hope is not our first response.  But McManus claims that it can be.

Watch what he has to say about hope, destiny and the source of both:

(If you can’t see the video click here to watch it)

>> Watch part 2 of this video here

Do you have hope in your situation? If you were facing a health crisis tomorrow would you be able to say that you had no fear? If you are looking for hope and need someone to talk to, we have email mentors available 24/7.  You can use this form to contact a mentor, you don’t have to go it alone. Paul Henderson has a fight ahead of him, and as he said in the interview he intends to fight this cancer with everything he’s got.  I hope he knows that once again, the whole nation is behind him.

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Tags: cancer, Claire Colvin, Culture, hockey, nhl, Paul Henderson, sports, USSR, World

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