Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town proposes prayer for the 2010 FIFA World Cup
”˜Let us all pray that God will bless the World Cup!’ said Archbishop Thabo Makgoba on Monday as he launched a special prayer for the tournament.
”˜It is a short and simple prayer which is easy to learn, and I hope many people, of many backgrounds, will join me in praying it daily in the coming weeks’ added the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. ”˜We are asking for the well-being of everyone who is in any way associated with the FIFA 2010 World Cup: players, spectators, South Africans as host nation, and everyone who travels here. Apart from the Olympics, this is the most widely supported sports event in the world ”“ countless millions, even billions, love “the beautiful game” and we want to share this love with one another, for the good of the world.’
Be sure to read all the way to the end to find the actual proposed prayer for the World Cup. Alas, it’s really pretty insipid and empty; designed not to offend anyone. And most notably, there is nothing distinctively Christian about it, e.g., it never mentions the name of Jesus Christ.
Biottom line: It’s a well-intentioned wish, full of the love of soccer, but where in the world is the love of God in it? In my judgment, this doesn’t qualify as [b]prayer[/b].
David Handy+