大象传媒

Good morning. With both England and Wales in action today<?xml:namespace prefix = "o" ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

and Northern Ireland playing tomorrow,

all football eyes

are currently on the Euros.

We can only hope that the violence that earlier marred the tournament

is totally absent.

Over recent years fans of my home nation

have taken to chanting: 鈥渨e鈥檙e not Brazil, we鈥檙e Northern Ireland!鈥�

In case you鈥檙e wondering, it鈥檚 to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic

and of course it鈥檚 entirely tongue-in-cheek.

But I think I can see how it鈥檚 caught-on,

at least in terms of our Ulster self-image.

If anything we may have a slight national tendency

to be vain about how self-effacing we are 鈥�

to be proud that we鈥檙e-no-better-than-we-ought- to-be.

Mind you 鈥渨e鈥檙e not Brazil, we鈥檙e Northern Ireland鈥� on another level

points to a realism and self-knowledge most of us take a lifetime to work out.

While it鈥檚 important to believe at one stage,

there is nothing we can鈥檛 do if we put our minds to it.

At another stage, it鈥檚 important to know

there are some things we really are much better at than others.

Which for the Christian

is where the parable of the talents raises the stakes.

Rewarding the first two slaves who have put their talents dutifully to work,

the Master says: You have been trustworthy.

For the third slave who buried his talent hyper-cautiously in the ground

he reserves the adjectives: wicked and lazy.

The divine expectation

is that we should take what we鈥檙e given in gifts and abilities

and put them to the best use possible.

The goal being not to advance our own situation.

The goal being to offer something back

to the One who gave us our gifts and abilities in the first place.

Lord help us see ourselves clearly

for who we are rather than who we鈥檙e not,

to apply ourselves wisely

to what we can do rather than what we can鈥檛,

in Jesus鈥� name. Amen.