It really shouldn't matter that much who wins a cricket game, but this week a whole nation felt the sadness of the Proteas' World Cup loss to New Zealand in Kolkata. Full credit to our captain and coach though for their mature responses - they acknowledged their disappointment, paid tribute to their opponents, and promised to learn what they could from the experience and move forward.
We know that we don't live in a Hollywood movie and we are not guaranteed fairy tale endings - disappointment is a part of life and how we handle it reveals so much about us. St Paul, having lived through his share of struggle and disappointment, writes these words to the church in Rome:
"We do not live for ourselves only, and we do not die for ourselves only. If we live, it is for the Lord that we live, and if we die, it is for the Lord that we die. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord." (Romans 14:7-8)
Isn't that an incredible attitude? To face the disappointment of death or the hope of life and to entrust it all to God. Facing life in this way this may even help us to deal with losing the occasional world cup cricket match :)