AFTER ALL the hype and build-up, the FIFA World Cup is underway.
For the supporters who are captivated by it, and for the uninterested who wish that all the coverage would go away, there can be no escape for a few weeks more.
Across the town people are ready to cheer on their own national team or whichever underdog takes their fancy.
Pubs advertise which matches are on their big screen, and we see flags draped across windows.
Our champions go into battle on our behalf, and (as no team has been knocked out yet) we can dream.
And why not dream?
Aspirations lift us, and give us hope.
Only one team can raise the trophy, but all 48 nations taking part can imagine that it will be theirs.
There is a window for optimism, and the belief that anything is possible.
So much of the time we are bombarded with news that distresses us – at least for a while let the scarves and banners be displayed with hope.
Hope tells us that we believe that things can be better, that the world as it is, is not the world as it could be.
For Christians, hope is an attitude rooted in our faith in God; it is to do with the past, present, and future.
It encourages us not only to look for, but also to work for, something better.
Even if England doesn’t win this time, let us still hold on to hope.
Wes Hampton is minister of Wokingham Methodist Church, which meets on Sundays at 10.30am.
For information, visit: wokinghammethodist.org.uk
