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Common people

Having spent the last 22 years before retirement as a Rector among such people and indeed being one of them myself, and for the last 12 years having lived among them in another part of Sydney, and still visiting them as an honorary hospital chaplain in a suburban hospital for the last 14 years, I love the verse about our Lord in Mark 12.37 - "THE COMMON PEOPLE HEARD HIM (Jesus) GLADLY". How I hope and pray that "the common people" can hear him GLADLY still as clearly as possible despite our imperfect lives and our sometimes muffled "speaking" as Episcopalian Christians and congregations.

John Bunyan
S.John's, Canberra, Pitt St Uniting, King's Chapel, Boston
Campbelltown, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
bunyanj@tpg.com.au
4 February 2013

Very disappointing

First really disappointing column in the years I have been reading it. So many chauvinistic remarks to begin with. Not any Americans I know would class the Super Bowl over, for instance, the Olympics. A t least no one was hurt or beat up someone for being on the "wrong side".

It would really be an advance for civilization if a sporting event was the replacement for war.
There has been a war on television or radio every night at least since 1914. Russia/ Finland 1920. Italy /Abbysinia 1935. Germany/ Poland 1939. Belgium 1940 etc., etc. Korea, Vietnam, Grenada . Beirut, Gulf, Somalia, Kosovo. Falklands. Never ending. It is always in your living room.
God is not our referee, in war or game, or argument. When we ask help in prayer we beg him to let us do his will. That's it. We don't give him marching orders or even our advice. We may not like his answers...would ours be somuch better.

JC Eriksen
Grace Calvary, Clarkesville, Georgia
Blairsville, Georgia, USA
5 February 2013

Letter to the editor

Of course the Super Bowl is the most important sporting event. Real football (which you quaintly call 'American Football') is the most athletically demanding sport and the most difficult to play and win. Soccer is for sissies, and most of the sports in the Olympics are something that any top football player has to excel at.

Whether God supports either side in a football game is hard to figure. But God likes winners, and Baltimore won.

Go Ravens!

Bert H.
Catonsville, Maryland, USA
5 February 2013

Earlier letters

We launched our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published letters are in our archives.