Sports and the divine

THIS is not a sermon, but I believe John O’Connor’s comments in the press that “… Almighty God …has been our eighth man in the 7s team and …16th man in our 15s team”... is a preposterous claim. Other similar frequently used phrases linking the Almighty God to sporting achievements in Fiji include “7s is played in heaven … God has given us victory …” Questions that can be legitimately asked include is Almighty God a God of sports? Is the divine God for victors only and not God for the loser; for the down trodden and the defeated too?

A handy reference people may turn to is the Holy Bible to find references whether Almighty God supports losers and the defeated too.

One such reference in the Christian Holy Bible text of Psalm 145:14: The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down.” Doubtless Holy Books from other religions will also have their references about the fallen and down trodden.

Another question that can also be legitimately asked by Sabbath-keeping Christians (who worship on Saturday): does Almighty God support sports played on the 7th day Sabbath i.e. Saturday (as most sporting fixtures including rugby are played on Saturdays).

And for these Sabbath-keeping Christians they can justify their doubts about divine support for sports by referring to the Holy Bible to the text of Isaiah 58 :13/14: If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasures …”

Non-Sabbath keepers may disagree and interpret the above text according to their belief and interpretation of the scriptures. It would be interesting to hear views from other religious beliefs (including atheists) and their holy books about the issue.

Let’s remember there are things which belong to man and things which belong to the divine. Let’s enjoy our sports but let’s keep it separate from the divine realm.

We are treading on uncertain grounds and there will be no victors and we will all be losers if we don’t.

WILLIAM ROSA

Ba