Goooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Jan Jan-Gerd Heetderks, UGC Correspondent

Look at these enthusiastic Brazilians and Chileans, despairing Englishmen and Italians, and how disappointed those Germans are, and the South Africans and Australians; look at the smiling Dutch and South Koreans, how thrilled the Swiss were -- at least until yesterday ...

No, I do not write about the effects of the first report of the Nominations Committee, but about the World Cup. If you happen to hear a sudden loud scream in the hall, it is not because somebody just spilled burning hot coffee on somebody's toes, but because Cameroon just scored a goal.

Well, soccer is being celebrated even in Grand Rapids, a place where the Calvin Knights usually play basketball. At times, some delegates may furtively arrive a bit late in the mornings, despite the fact that the bus left on time. Had they overslept? No, their team was on the tube, so the temptation to watch the game was greater than their thirst for Bible studies or morning worship.

So far so good. Yet ...instead of everyone cheering together, now some spectators happily celebrate a goal while the rest vent their anger and frustration.

One German lady severely proposed the TVs in the building be switched to another channel. Fortunately, she did not succeed.

Who is going to celebrate in the end? Well, he who laughs last laughs loudest. In nominations for the Executive Committee, a quota system will apply; however, such quotas do not exist for world champions in soccer. So far, the Europeans have gained the biggest share of the titles (as usual), but the South Americans have helped write soccer history -- and come up with the best players in the history of the game.

If the newly formed World Communion of Reformed Churches really wants to celebrate unity in justice, then everyone must hope an African or Asian team will finally become world champion. Could that be a proposal for the Policy Reference-Committee?

But as we all know, friendship ends where soccer starts. And thus the question arises whether the World Cup is possibly threatening the unity we just celebrated. In Grand Rapids, the question is: Will who becomes World Soccer champion be more important than shared Reformed tradition or injustices and dangers of globalisation?

Well, probably not. The unity in the spirit through the bond of peace is stronger!

At least until the last 16.