A Moment With God
The foundation for positive thoughts may have been laid that night in the Dominican Republic, but it was driven home in a profound way back in Brazil. After leaving the Escadaria Selarón, Alonso was determined to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue.
“I just can’t leave Rio without seeing this,” he would articulate to anyone within earshot and who was willing to listen. “If you could only pick one thing to see while you were in Brazil, that would have to be it.”
It would take nearly 30 minutes for our bus to drive up the winding roads to the base of the statue. As Alonso hopped out of the van and began to take the stairs to make the final ascent to the statue, a heavy cloud cover started to break and the sun began to shine through so magnificently that it wouldn’t have been a stretch to picture God himself rolling out the red carpet to welcome Alonso in grand fashion. The beauty of the moment wasn’t lost on anyone — Alonso especially. So as soon as he made it to the base of the statue, he paused for a moment, admired Christ’s outstretched hands, then closed his eyes and exhaled.
“I feel God here,” he shared as his eyes slowly opened.
After taking a few more moments to soak in the honor of standing in front of one of the world’s seven greatest wonders, Alonso began to descend the stairwell with an increased pep in his step, clearly rejuvenated by the experience.
In Alonso’s mind, he can only hope that television enthusiasts encounter a similar transformative experience when he begins to appear on their television sets on a weekly basis.
Jan. 7 can’t get here soon enough.
