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A scruffy looking guy went into a pub and ordered some food. The barman took one look at him and said, “I’m sorry but I don't think you can pay for it.” Surprisingly the man admitted, “You're right. I don't have any money, but if I show you something amazing that I can guarantee you have never seen before, will you give me the food I want?” Intrigued the barman found himself agreeing.
The guy reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a hamster. He put the hamster on the counter and it ran to the end, jumped down, ran right across the room, climbed up the piano, jumped onto the keyboard and started playing some Gershwin. And the hamster was really good.
The barman was amazed and said, “You're right. I've never seen anything like that before. The hamster is truly good on the piano.” He handed over the food which quickly disappeared. The guy then asked for something else.
“Money or another miracle?” said the barman. The guy reached into his coat again and pulled out a frog. He put the frog on the counter and to the accompaniment of the hamster on the piano he started to sing – and he had a marvellous voice and was perfectly in tune.
Another man was watching all of this and with a dropping jaw came over and offered the guy £500 for the frog. The guy immediately said, “It's a deal.” He took the five hundred and gave the man the frog. Not quite believing his good fortune the man dashed straight out of the pub before the guy could change his mind..
The barman said to the guy, “Are you crazy? You sold a singing frog for £500? It must have been worth millions.”
“Not really," said the guy. “You see the hamster is also a ventriloquist.”
All being well we are now into the closing stages of the World Cup. Is England still in the running? Having only played one game as I write this I wouldn’t like to speculate. What I do know is that apart from the distant memories of the 1966 triumph, probably the strongest memory we have of past attempts is the 1986 ‘hand of god’ incident with Maradonna scoring through a well disguised hand ball. In the same game he went on to score what is often regarded as the goal of the century.
Since that infamous moment there doesn’t appear to have been any sense of regret, let alone shame, that the game was won through such an underhand (or would it have been overhand) method. Is this now the way of the world, because it’s not just football? Is it expected that we will all try to get one over on each other if we get the opportunity? We can point the finger at politicians and even sportsman, but as the old saying goes, when you point a finger at someone there are 3 fingers pointing back at you.
Encouraging a small church 2000 years ago in Philippi the Apostle Paul wrote; ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.’ (Philippians 4:8 NIV) Or to put it another way, let these things guide your thoughts and actions.
I wonder if the World Cup results would be different if everyone admitted when they didn’t stick strictly to the rules?
Every blesssing,
Graham Robinson |
