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Soccer and the soul
FAITH IN ACTION
By Katherine Marshall
South Africa already was at fever pitch when I visited 10 days ago, more than a week before the 2010 World Cup began. It reminded me of the extraordinary spirit of South Africa in June 1995 when the Springboks won the rugby World Cup and the country went wild. The tension leading up to the match and the outburst of excitement when their team won against all odds were unforgettable.
So it's not surprising that Clint Eastwood's 2009 film "Invictus, about Nelson Mandela and that great rugby victory, is playing on airplanes going in many directions. It is an inspiring story of powerful leadership, both Mandela's and Francois Pienaar's, the Springbok captain. The real history and the film highlight the power of determination and inspiration, and how South Africa's national success in sports helped to overcome huge barriers among South Africans, almost in an instant. It is a real story of hope.
Invictus is a Latin word meaning 'unconquered.' The film's title is taken from a Victorian poem by William Ernest Henley. Mandela tells Pienaar that the poem gave him courage to persist in the toughest times, during his long years in prison on Robben Island. Pienaar in turn takes inspiration from Mandela's message.
The message that Mandela takes from the poem is that no matter how dark the pit, the soul is unconquerable. "My head is bloody but unbowed . . . The menace of the years finds, and shall find, me unafraid . . . I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul."
The message that "I am the master of my fate" has a strong echo in Michelle Obama's graduation speech in Washington last week, as she urged the graduates not to let fatalism grip them: master your own life.
Mandela is one of our era's most inspirational figures, a person tested beyond our imagination, an living example of courage, persistence and belief in the unconquerable power of the spirit.
Comparisons between religion and sports are generally made in a frivolous tone, or in a vein that denigrates the passions and convictions of both. But inspiration and leadership are at the heart of the best in both sports and religion.
In the film, Mandela asks the captain, how can you lead in ways that make your team more than they believe they can be? His question for himself is how he can inspire the people of his divided nation to see themselves both as one and as masters of their fate.
That's the central question we face in our country too, and we would do well to follow Mandela's wise example and his counsel.
Katherine Marshall is a senior fellow at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, a Visiting Professor, and Executive Director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue.
By Katherine Marshall |
June 14, 2010; 9:42 AM ET
| Category:
Faith in Action
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Posted by: bpai_99 | June 21, 2010 7:52 PM
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Waka Waka (Official anthem/song of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa)
You're a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up
And dust yourself off
And back in the saddle
You're on the frontline
Everyone's watching
You know it's serious
We're getting closer
This isn't over
The pressure is on
You feel it
But you've got it all
Believe it
When you fall get up
Oh oh...
And if you fall get up
Oh oh...
Tsamina mina
Zangalewa
Cuz this is Africa
Tsamina mina eh eh
Waka Waka eh eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
Anawa aa
This time for Africa
Posted by: Jihadist | June 16, 2010 4:39 PM
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That's all well and good, but can they please take those obnoxious horns and stick 'em at the bottom of a deep diamond mine shaft?
Posted by: Athena4 | June 15, 2010 3:54 PM
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Soccer sucks.
The USA and England play 90 minutes at what's supposed to be world championship level; and the key to the game is how lame their goalie is trying to pick up the ball.
Posted by: WmarkW | June 15, 2010 10:24 AM
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Please do not diminish sports by associating it with religion. The ways in which sport is superior are countless, but include:
1. Members of sports organizations do not claim to be morally superior to those on other teams.
2. Sports are almost never used a justification for killing others.
3. Athletes are not kicked out of their sports organization if they marry someone from a different sport.