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Flickers burn deep in the soul

By Jerry Johnston
Deseret News columnist

      The fanfare from the Olympic trumpets has pretty much drowned out other occasions. Valentine's Day and the NBA All-Star Game tiptoed in and out. Chinese New Year slid by. Mardi Gras might as well have been another planet.
      Like the Matterhorn, the Olympic Games have dwarfed everything else around.
      Yet despite all the grandeur, the most meaningful impressions I'm getting of the Games come in small, telling moments. Most were spontaneous moments, quick flickers of human spirit — like the tiny Hispanic girl I saw at the Ethnic Village, singing her heart out for one or two onlookers.
      I think of the reverent tone the Tabernacle Choir gave our National Anthem at the opening ceremonies. The choir could have filled the anthem with bombs bursting in air but instead gave a restrained, prayerful version that will stay with me always.
      What I'm relearning, I suppose, is the lesson the prophet Elijah learned in his cave. Sometimes a hush and whisper moves us more than bombast.
      In short, the "fire within" doesn't have to a be blazing bonfire.
      It can be a gentle glow.
      I saw that glow when I visited Mary Pinkey at the St. Vincent de Paul food kitchen. I asked her how things were going.
      "We're just burning the fire within," she said. "Of course, by the end of the day some of us start to fizzle."
      Did she have any gold medal volunteers around her?
      "Everyone's a gold medalist, even the governor here," she said, squeezing the arm of a smiling old man.
      Such simplicity amid all the gold and glory make me think of a little jingle written years ago by Abram Ryan called "Better than Gold":

      Better than grandeur, better than gold,
      Than rank and titles a thousandfold,
      Is a healthy body and a mind at ease,
      And simple pleasures that always please.

      For about a dozen years I lived a stone's throw from Tommy Pacheco — the Shoshone leader who represented his tribe, in full regalia, a the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Standing before a billion people, he welcomed the world to the Olympics in his native tongue.
      It was a glorious moment, filled with pomp and passion.
      But as I watched Tommy, I didn't think of the swirling colors and cascade of ice skaters. I thought of his son Michael, a bright, well-adjusted little boy who seldom speaks and never lets his face reveal his feelings. Getting Michael to smile is harder than getting a deer to smile.
      I knew Michael would be watching his dad, however. And I knew his heart would be racing. Seeing his father stand before the world as a proud Shoshone leader is an image that will stay with him forever and may even change the way he lives his life.
      The thought was "better than grandeur, better than gold."
      For me, "the inner fire" for the Games has come from small sources. It has been kindled by people at the edge of things. The slogan says "Light the fire within," but I've found that notion is a bit misleading.
      In my experience, you can't light your own fire within — somebody else has to kindle it for you.
      I'm grateful there have been Marys and Michaels out there to spark it for me.

E-mail: jerjohn@desnews.com