It was the early Nineties, and Arthur Ashe, the legendary tennis player, was dying of AIDS. The only black ever to win the Wimbledon, US Open and Australian Open singles titles, he had been acclaimed for his athletic and graceful style of play. He was long considered a role model for his composure, courtesy and sportsmanship, both on and off the court.
After retiring in 1980, Ashe took to charitable causes and humanitarian work. He set up tennis programs for children and campaigned against apartheid in South Africa; his 3-volume book ‘A Hard Road to Glory’ was a chronicle of the struggle for excellence by African-American athletes.
Back in July 1979, Ashe had suffered a heart attack while holding a tennis coaching camp in New York. He was supremely fit as an athlete, so his condition drew attention to the hereditary aspect of heart disease. His family on both his father’s and mother’s sides had a history of cardio-vascular complaints. But cruel fate intervened when Ashe had to go for heart surgery in 1983. Through an infected blood transfusion, he contracted AIDS.
Letters poured in from his fans across the world. In one letter, an anguished fan asked: “Why does God have to select you for such a bad disease?” And to this Arthur Ashe replied…
“The world over —
50 million children start playing tennis,
5 million learn to play tennis,
500,000 learn professional tennis,
50,000 come to the circuit,
5,000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbledon,
4 to semi final,
2 to the finals,
when I was holding a cup,
I never asked God ‘Why me?’.
And today in pain,
I should not be asking God ‘Why me?’”
When he passed away, Ashe was not even 50. He had spent the last part of his life working to raise awareness about AIDS. In 1997, the US Tennis Association honored him by naming the new center court stadium at the USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York, the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In a difficult situation, when we feel like asking “Oh God, why me?”, it would do well to remember 98% of good things in life for which we ought to have been thankful to Him.
— the harbinger