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Hallo (which is 'Hello' in Afrikaans) |
There is no doubt that I am in a
minority. Having spent most of my youth being coached to
play cricket, having a grandfather who created a cricket
pitch for his grandchildren in the back garden, and sitting
for hours watching one of the most boring games in the world
– I am not a cricket lover. Likewise the thoughts of so many
wasted days watching the World Cup on TV makes me feel like
wanting to live on a desert island. Tennis I love, golf I
can just about stand, but I have to admit that as an avid
Times Newspaper reader the first part of that newspaper
which reaches the recycling first, is the sports section.
So what am I going to do during the
World Cup? No doubt the lawn will get extra attention as
well as the rest of the Rectory Garden, Marian and I will
spend most of the time out of the town as the Market Place
becomes a World Cup drinking venue.
But although I am not really
interested in football I am interested in the resurgence of
South Africa as a nation after apartheid, and the work that
has gone into preparing for this special competition. The
spin off to the nation will be immense and my hope and
prayers are that we will see no violence. As one of the most
violent nations on earth, South Africa is a mixture of
wonderful beauty and immense poverty but it’s now quickly
moving from the old colonial days to being a vibrant nation.
It has everything going for it. It has abundant supplies of
natural resources, it is well developed financially, it has
good legal system, it has a stock exchange which ranks 20th
in the world and it is ranked 25th in the terms
of gross national product. It has so much going for it that
we all pray the World Cup will not only be a sporting
success, but also a financial one as well.
My belief in life is the churches and
nation should use the gifts that God has given them, and
then they will do well. As a nation we constantly become
involved in wars and initiatives which actually have very
little to do with us. As we prepare for the Olympics in the
summer of 2012 let us pray that they will have a lasting
effect on one of the poorest parts of London where the
Olympic village is being built, where there are 22 different
languages spoken in a very culturally diverse part of
London.
My late Father would be so proud of me
for writing about sport. Actually I still can’t stand it,
but I wish the South African’s well. They have worked so
hard to make the World Cup a success and I hope that their
natural enthusiasm might just encourage me to see the Final.
Watch this space.
Sala kahle
Which is ‘Goodbye’ in Zulu
Adrian Bell
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