More than life and death

The adjacent face says it all. The FIFA world cup is a big deal for any soccer fan, a massive deal for Africans and beyond measure for South Africans.

Many years ago a famous Star Trek episode showed two colonies at war with each other. However, it was a virtual war, played out in the cyber world of computer games. The games helped to ensure that innocent lives were spared and civil infrastructure was not impaired.

However, the downside of the game was a mutual agreement that the deaths recorded in each battle had to be processed as real deaths – so a lottery singled out individuals, who willing went off to a processing plant that simply and painlessly ended their lives. It was so civilized, but ever so cynical – a poke at modern civilization.

In a way, a major sporting event like the world cup is a noble way of bringing nations together and resolving rivalries peacefully. We don’t kill the losers, although some have died at times for poor performances. However, we do graciously accept the results and honor the victors, because that is in the spirit of the game.

Maybe sport is of God after all – for the way it unifies the community of nations, builds national spirit and develops human character, is noble indeed. The professional leagues are so self-serving and materialistic – anything but noble. However, the internationals start with the singing of anthems and unite nations, then also bring about meaningful interaction between nations – and that is all good.

So, I celebrate what is happening – I doubt if I will ever become a soccer follower, for many of my own reasons, but the significance of this moment is not lost on me and it has given me and many of my countrymen every reason to celebrate. This is not a life and death event, its bigger than that.

(c) Peter Eleazar @ www.4u2live.net