Sonidos Serranos

Sonidos Serranos: Sounds of the Sierras...
Reflecting some of my family's interests: God's wonderful creation (especially mountains and hills!), music, and language...

Psalm 121:1-2 (NASB)

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.

08 June 2016

“Excuse me! Your slip is showing!”

Seriously?! This type of (mis)information is being broadcast for all (including the educated world!) to see?! But it’s not on a handwritten cardboard sign; it was displayed on a high-dollar big screen in a multi-million-dollar, “world class” stadium in a nation that is recognized globally as a leader in logistics?! As an educator, I’m aghast! Where was the “research” done that is being publicly displayed?


Of course we have house numbers here in Uruguay – with exceptions on both extremes of the socioeconomic curve. Yes, it’s true that “vacation homes” in small coastal communities (incidentally, the ones that tourists love to visit!) are given names by their owners. And underdeveloped neighborhoods are works in progress, as would be expected anywhere...

And did those doing the “research” actually play through the alleged eleven stanzas of the national anthem – and time how long it takes to perform them all? (If you’re going to make a claim, do your homework first!) Was any of this information checked for accuracy? If so, please explain the gross error three days ago in the University of Phoenix Stadium when another nation’s anthem was played in place of Uruguay’s?


Could CONCACAF (the organizer of this Copa América Centenario) really have chosen to severely limit the “public relations” budget for this international tournament? Or is something more insidious going on? Are the recurring claims of corruption true in this event, too? Whatever the case, it’s sad that the USA, as the host country, is on the receiving end of most of the criticism and/or blame...

We live on a broken planet and, therefore, have to expect that “mistakes” will be made. But as Christians, as ambassadors for Christ, we have to choose to care about “details” that could build cross-cultural bridges – or, on the contrary, burn them! Ours must be a markedly different attitude.

During the World Cup in 2014, John Mark shared thoughts to that end:

...if I am unwilling—and a willing or unwilling attitude, I think, is key—unwilling to discipline myself to care about tennis, or cricket, or soccer; unwilling to listen when I have the right to speak; unwilling to learn which way is north (or south!); then I am exercising a right that may hinder me from being the global-minded, useful Christian that I otherwise might have been...

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