Last night I couldn’t stop staring at Nastia Liukin’s scowling face as she processed her loss to He Kexin on the uneven bars despite their tie score. Her features expressed almost a painful dissatisfaction with the present moment. Nothing around her—not her father, the cheering crowds, or her own lithe and muscular body—was able to penetrate her utter rejection of her loss.

“I have learned how to get along happily whether I have much or little…I have learned the secret of living in every situation… For I can do everything with the help of Christ who gives me the strength I need.” (Phil 4: 11-13)

Everyone at my house wants his own room tonight. We’ve all decided it’s so much easier to shut a door than share space. We’re fed up with each others’ sounds, with the way we hurl our bodies about, with our various plans and projects. In fact, if we could, we’d live in five little houses surrounded by palisades, perhaps not even in the same neighborhood.