Last night Antoinette and I went to see Clint Eastwood’s movie, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela, and Matt Damon as the captain of the South African, Springboks, rugby team. It is a true story of how Mandela used sport to bring his country together after years of apartheid. It stirred many memories for me. I can remember, as a child, going to see the Springboks play when they visited New Zealand. They were great rivals of the All Blacks, our national rugby team. However, at that time, they would not allow any black South Africans play on their team. It was composed solely of white South Africans, mainly Afrikaaners, whereas our teams included Maoris and Pacific Islanders as well as white New Zealanders. In the early 1960’s sanctions upon South Africa for its apartheid policies prohibited their sports teams from competing in the world. I supported and signed petitions to our national rugby authorities in favor of this boycott.

The movie is set in 1995, when sanctions had been lifted and the Springboks were allowed to play again. Their 30 year absence from the international area had affected their ability and morale. President Mandela encouraged the team captain with verses from W.E. Henley’s poem Invictus, which had inspired him during his years of confinement on Robbins Island prison.

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.

It matters not, how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

Henley was not a Christian believer. His sentiments are secular. Yet his “unconquerable soul” is testimony to the grace of God in our lives. We can thank God for this kind of courage. St. Paul talks about being “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) Invictus is Latin for unconquerable.

Black South Africans have now been included in the Springboks. The victory of the team in the World Cup became a national unifier. Of course, I was proud of their opponents, the All Blacks, who don’t lose many games, for personal reasons. My father’s best man, married my mother’s maid of honor, her cousin. Uncle Ron played as an All Black, became captain of the All Black team, then coach and selector. Their performing of the Maori Haka (war challenge) before World Cup final was a stirring reminder that their record was also unconquerable.

As a former rugby player, coach and referee, the spirit of competition, the burning desire to win, to triumph over all odds, is bred in me. My father was also a champion rugby player in his day. This same spirit is found in the Gospel. Jesus’s head was ‘bloody, but unbowed’ on the Cross. He has given us unconquerable souls. We are masters of our own fate and captains of our own souls. That is why our choices and our motivations are so important. Following Jesus as my captain, will find me unafraid, for he will lead me through the final. As Corrie ten Boom used to say: “Jesus is Victor.”

As I come to the end of this year, and the end of the first decade of the 21^st century, I feel the need for the guidance and protection of God for myself and for those I love. The following two prayers come from David Adam’s Celtic Prayer Companion.

Lord be with us this day,

Within us to purify us;

Above us to draw us up;

Beneath us to sustain us;

Before us to lead us;

Behind us to restrain us;

Around us to protect us.

St. Patrick

Lord, who made sea and land,

Always give me aid,

And guide my life here

In the way of truth.

Lord Jesus, look on me,

And grant me your unfailing grace.

Every hour, Jesus, it is my desire

In the world to please you.

St. Meryadoc

To these I would add my own prayer:

Lord, help me, for I am helpless;

Life is too complex and I am too simple.

Lord strengthen me to serve you, for I am weak;

Life is too full of challenges and I am too inadequate.

Lord, enlighten me with your wisdom, for I am ignorant;

Life is too confusing and I am too blind.

Lord, fill me with your love, joy and peace; for I am discouraged and disturbed;

Life is too sad  and cruel, and I am too selfish.

Lord Jesus, fill me with your Spirit, so that I become more like you.

Life is ripe with opportunities to do good;

May I be a blessing to others, and so extend your kingdom.

Empower me with your risen life to be renewed in your likeness.

The Christmas story is about God coming into a world of suffering to redeem it, to bring his love to transform self-centered lives, to give comfort, strength and hope to those who suffer from loneliness and alienation, to move people who have opened themselves to him to reach out with his love to others in need of that love.

There is no better portrayal of this than in the movie “The Blind Side”. Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy are members of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Memphis. They took in a homeless sixteen year old, Michael Oher, gave him the love, and encouragement which he never had from his drug addicted mother of 13 children, and the bleak foster homes he had been placed in. His loneliness and alienation was replaced with a family that embraced him as their own, despite the monumental differences in their backgrounds. Michael was a lost cause when he entered Briarcrest Christian School, as a six and a half foot, 340 pound hulk with zero learning or communication skills and a profound inability to express himself. He shunned human touch, and was very withdrawn.

Sandra Bullock, who played Leigh Anne Tuohy in the movie said that no one was faking anything. “This family, they were themselves, for no other benefit other than because they wanted to reach out, lend a hand, and had no idea that they would get a son in return.” The actress said that, while making the movie, she regained a little “faith in those who say they represent a faith. Wow, I finally met someone who practices but doesn’t preach. Whereas before I was like, do not give me a lecture on how to live my life when I know I’m a pretty decent human being. I might not go to church every day, but I know I do the right thing or try to. So I finally met people that walk the walk.”

Michael Oher went on to play for Ole Miss, graduated on the Dean’s List, and is now playing for the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens. The bleak prospects of his childhood have been succeeded by the joy of his achievements, due to the love of God working through the Tuohys. “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9)

“Live through him.” Walk the walk. Follow the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Let God show you how much he loves you by opening your heart to his saving presence. This is his gift to you this Christmastime.