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Christmas and Scottishness
On 16th November at work, almost everyone was wearing Scotland football jerseys or tartan sashes. On the roads loads of people were driving around with either the St Andrew's Cross or the Rampant Lion on their car aerials. At night, I went to Tesco and all the staff were also wearing their Scotland colours proudly. I listened to Radio Scotland on Saturday for the build up to the big game and even the pundits and reporters that were usually quite sceptical were predicting that Scotland would beat Italy at Hampden Park, which is, after all the traditional home of Scottish football. I must say I quite enjoyed all this. There was no conflict or ill feeling because everyone was hoping for the same outcome.
Well . . . Scotland did it to us again! We dared to believe that maybe . . . Just maybe . . . We could do it this time but it ended in disappointment, what might've beens, accusations of corrupt officials and, in some instances, even tears. I believe I'm reasonably well qualified to talk about this subject because:
* I witnessed the 5-1 grubbing at Wembley when Stewart Kennedy was in goal
* I witnessed Billy Bremner nearly scoring against Brazil in 1974
* I watched all three games in Argentina as a fully paid up member of Ally's
Tartan army
* I've been at Twickenam twice. On both occasions, Scotland had a great rugby team and were expected to win the grand slam. On both visits they were beaten by England.
* I witnessed a stationary ball suddenly moving of its own free will causing Gary McAllister to miss a penalty against England at Wembley.
Lots more examples could have been added to this list - all disappointing / heartbreaking / gut-wrenching in their own way but this is what you are required to endure when you support the dark blues. Maybe it's to do with this name because I don't think it would be out of place on the following list: Basin Street Blues, Down and out Blues, Homesick Blues, Dark Blues
Two definitions of blues being as follows:
1. A type of popular music consisting mainly of slow sad songs often performed over a repeating harmonic pattern
2. A feeling of unhappiness or low spirits
I was thinking about this during the week wondering what it is that makes us do this. Are we becoming like the old punch-drunk boxer that actually enjoys the pain? I don't think so. I think it's because:
* We like being part of the herd and the bigger the herd is, the more we like it.
* The majority of people in this country feel more Scottish than British.
* There's something about these sporting occasions that moves our thinking from our brains to our hearts.
* We like to sing, cheer and dress up.
* One of these days, it might be our turn.
In considering this a little further, I wondered if it would be better supporting Brazil or Italy but even these more successful teams do not win all the time and both have had their fair share of disappointments. Indeed, it is possible that when they fail, their followers feel it even more than we do because their expectations are much greater than our own.
It will soon be Christmas and the shops will be busy from opening time until closing time full of people looking for that special something that will brighten the lives of their friends, relatives or children on Christmas morning.
Can I ask two questions?
1. What presents did you get last year?
2. What presents did you get the year before?
I tried these questions out on some of my colleagues and approximately half of them could not answer the first question and hardly any of them could answer the second question.
So what is the point of these observations? I believe the main point is that people in this country put their energies into the aforementioned subjects with enthusiasm, devotion and passion despite the outcomes being in one instance potentially crushing disappointment and in the other the provision of temporary pleasure. I'm not in any way condemning this behaviour but at the end of the day, is it really worth it? I believe that probably most would say, 'yes, it is'.
Any time is a good time to consider coming to Church whether you've never been before or never been for a long time but Christmas is especially a good time for reaching this decision. It is also a good time for those already attending regularly to reaffirm their faith and renew their commitment to following the teaching of scripture.
Apart from the tree being in Church and the singing of hymns or carols that we all know and love, there is the special message of Christmas.
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