this guy was motivated by his religion, but there is a lesson in there for all of us, whatever we believe ... the single word "eternity" appeared amidst the fireworks at the end of the opening ceremony of the sydney olympics. the story behind that is the amazing one of mr arthur stace, 1884-1967.

born in sydney, arthur stace grew up in poverty, looking after himself and stealing as needed. at twelve he was made a ward of the state. at fifteen he was in jail. in 1930, he went to a church for the handouts, but noticed how well dressed the churchgoers were. stace thought "they might bo onto something" and he prayed. he felt welcomed and gained self-respect, and then employment.

eternity was his one word sermon. he only ever gave one explanation and never gave interviews. he said he felt a powerful call from the Lord to write "ETERNITY". he had a piece of chalk in his pocket and he bent down there and wrote it. (in beautiful 2 foot-high copperplate script). and wrote it. and wrote it.

for the next 37 years he would wake at 5am, go where he felt God directed him that day, and write every hundred metres on the pavement "eternity" while the city slept. he'd be back home by ten that morning.

arthur stace died of a stroke in 1967 in a nursing home, aged 83, but his "word",eternity, persists, and his message reached over 4 million people during the olympics telecast. rip arthur stace ... from here to, well, ... you know