On February 9th, the world watched as the largest, most diverse Winter Olympics Games PyeongChang 2018 got underway with a spectacular opening ceremony in South Korea. With 92 countries taking part, of which 6 are doing so for the first time and also for the first time featuring women teams such as the Nigerian and Jamaican female bobsled team. Another first was witnessed as the world watched the North and South Korean delegates march together, united under one flag.
The stadium in its design is a fusion of various geometric forms (circles, squares, triangles) representing heaven, earth, and mankind respectively and reflecting their values of consonance and convergence.
The ceremony featured 5 Korean children as it’s central characters, each representing the 5 elements; fire, water, wood, metal, and earth which forms an important part of Korean tradition. Their belief is that these 5 elements make up the universe. The Ceremony followed the children on a pursuit through time in a quest for the meaning of peace and harmony.
It was evident that the theme of the ceremony was focused on peace, with the President of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games Committee stating that the Winter Games will guide us to a world of reconciliation. “Just as the Seoul 1988 Olympic games broke down the Cold War barrier between East and West 30 years ago, we hope that the two Koreas participating together in the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games will once again bring peace over our land.”
Ephesians 4:3 calls on us to “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” When the planning of the ceremony’s theme began, North Korea was not expected to attend the games, however, the organisers started with the theme of peace. The ceremony concluded with the formation of a bright white dove, the ultimate symbol of peace. The formation proceeded in the stadium while artists both in the stadium and live video stream, performed John Lennon’s iconic anthem for peace, Imagine.
Korea is the sole remaining divided country in the world. As the winter Olympics game 30 years ago broke the barrier between East and West, let us pray the Winter Olympics of 2018 will break the ice between North and South. Amen.
