ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

Available for over a year

Welsh rugby has been shaken this week by the announcement that one of its most inspirational figures is retiring at the age of 29. Sam Warburton captained Wales a record 49 times, led the British and Irish Lions in two series, and played with quiet intensity and huge commitment. But it came at a price - at least 18 major injuries, some needing significant surgery. And now he’s had to admit that his body just won’t take any more. He’s been lauded for the way he’s led by example, for his selflessness, lack of ego, his sheer graft, and I was impressed by something he said to his new club coach as he was trying to return after a long lay-off: ‘I want to be better…Can you make me better?’ By which I take it he meant, not, can you heal me?; but, can you make me better at my job, a more effective rugby player? At the pinnacle of a career, he was passionate to improve, still wanted to learn. There’s a humility in that which any of us might need in order to make a new start. It might be after some great disappointment or catastrophic failure, or simply a lingering sense that potential has never been reached, we’re not what we could be or should be. We want to do better, be better. It’s a great place to begin, wherever we look for inspiration for living. ‘Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor,’ said Jesus; and I’m always heartened by the old words of invitation to the communion service: come ‘not to testify that you are righteous, but that you sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ and desire to be his true disciple; come not because you are strong, but because you are weak…’ I can sign up to that. In my better moments, I do want to be better. A healthy discontent acknowledges that there’s always more to be done. That’s reflected in this week’s warning of a ‘dangerous complacency’ in the response to the global HIV/Aids pandemic. While the number of new cases has been falling, the situation has stagnated, the experts say, and without a reinvigoration of the work there’s risk of a resurgence. Similarly, in his lecture on the centenary of the birth of Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama warned of the threats to Mandela’s vision of peace and freedom in the ‘politics of fear, resentment, retrenchment…’ ‘Keep believing,’ he pleaded. ‘Keep marching, Keep building. Keep raising your voice.’ He insisted that ‘every generation has the opportunity to remake the world.’ Indeed. But that really does imply the humility which can make us want to be better.