BEAUTY & THE BEAST

Well, I could hardly let the World Cup start without making a comment…

South Africa – quite possibly the most beautiful nation on earth. This is going to be a World Cup like no other. The levels of exuberance and sheer African pizzazz will make this a mesmerizing event, even if the football itself doesn’t always deliver.

But we have already seen the flipside of South Africa – those British students killed and injured in a coach crash, and Nelson Mandela’s great-granddaughter killed in another accident.

South Africa is captivating and it is dangerous. It is beauty and the beast.

The clichés about South Africa tend to be true (as clichés tend to be). The people are among the warmest and friendliest in the world, but levels of personal violence and casual cruelty are shocking to someone used to the more contained existence of middle-England. The landscape is dramatic and fabulous, but those trees have sharp thorns. The wildlife is superb, but don’t get too close.

And I am envious of those who are there! I would like to be in the crowds, blowing my vuvuzela – another South African phenomena that seems to define the dichotomy of beauty and beast. To some it is the sound of celebration and fun, to others a deafening and deeply unpleasant racket. Me? Well, I’m thinking about having a vuvuzela Sunday at Gateway – worship to the sound of a plastic trumpet!

C’mon England!