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"Thank God"

I was watching a TV show recently that featured a professional athlete who was talking about all of the success he had in life. He spoke about long days he spent practicing and about how driven he was to always be the best he could be. The person he was speaking with said "Congratulations you must be good." to which the athlete replied "I'm not good, I'm just blessed."

Comments like that always put me off. You hear it from so many people from athletes to movie stars to great humanitarians and everything in between. So many people working so hard to accomplish their goals and then so eagerly give the credit away. Many people see it as an act of grace but all I see is invalidation of their own effort. I always want to ask why they even needed to work or try if God was going to bless them with the end result anyways. Anyone else find themselves cringing at these statements?

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Permalink Reply by Scott on August 26, 2011 at 4:14pm

Oh of course... It is very annoying.

I feel really bad for the athletes on the other side of things that believe that somebody needs to be "blessed" to win. Its kind of like saying: despite all of your skill and talent, its up to god to determine the true winner of this game.

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Permalink Reply by Steph S. on August 26, 2011 at 4:46pm

Yes, whenever I hear anyone say "I'm blessed" or "they are blessed", I just look at them funny. It makes it sound like god has favorites or something.

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Permalink Reply by Gecko, Seth...brother of Richie! on August 27, 2011 at 1:57am

Very good point Eugene!

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Permalink Reply by Prog Rock Girl on August 28, 2011 at 6:30pm

If some people are "blessed", that also means that some people are cursed.

And that both are god's will...

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Permalink Reply by roland707 on August 26, 2011 at 11:37pm

Last year, after Auburn won a football game the COACH, Gene Chizik says "It's a god thing" on TV. Pissed me off to no end. They did that crap all season. God probably won't do a lot for them this year. Almost forgot.........ROLL TIDE !

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Permalink Reply by Gecko, Seth...brother of Richie! on August 27, 2011 at 1:57am

WOOO HOOO!! You wrote about my BIGGEST day to day pet peeve!!!!! Drives me nuts!! Bad enough you have to hear it from every phony celebrity out there but you hear it on a day to day basis!!

"Have a blessed day!" NO FUCKING THANK YOU!!!.......was that too harsh??

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Permalink Reply by booklover on August 27, 2011 at 8:27am

Also, apparently, 'god' blesses some people with wonderful 'gifts' like a great singing voice, or good looks, and others with birth-defects.

Yep. Credit only goes to this 'god' guy. Not to the atheletes who train hard, or their knowledgeable coaches, or to teams that play well. Same with medicine. My friends grandson almost died, but 'god' was watching-over him and kept him from dying. Not the knowledgeable medical staff in the wonderful hospital he was taken to. Insane.

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Permalink Reply by Pat on August 27, 2011 at 8:46am

While not an athlete, I've always liked, and laughed about, the story told by Richard Dawkins in "The God Delusion" about the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II by Mehmet Ali Agca. After getting shot, and a team of surgeons and other medical personnel saved his life, he credited his "miraculous" recovery to Our Lady of Fatima. Dawkins wondered aloud if Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Medjugorje, and Our Lady of Lourdes were all on a shopping trip or just taking the day off. And, why couldn't Our Lady of Fatima deflect the bullet in the first place? Nahhhhh, his recovery had nothing to do with modern medicine.

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Permalink Reply by booklover on August 27, 2011 at 9:23am

I know, it must be that SO many peoples' guardian angels are taking a coffee-break when bad things happen. lol

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Permalink Reply by Brian Wood on August 27, 2011 at 11:14am

As Jim Bouton wrote in his GREAT baseball book, "Ball Four": "They're my muscles, not god's."

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Permalink Reply by booklover on August 27, 2011 at 4:31pm

Yes, a loving god gave her cancer and then took it away causing her to be grateful to him. How nice. ;)

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Permalink Reply by booklover on August 28, 2011 at 8:12am

Like places where a tornado went through and they interview people who thank 'god' they survived, while their neighbor died a few yards away. Do they not think of the victims? Do they think 'god' had a 'reason' to kill their neighbor and not them? What kind of 'reasoning' do they use to be able to think like this and actually convince themselves to believe it?