Often, I’ll say hi, or talk to her for a few seconds as we pass each another.  Today I decided to stop and have a conversation.  “How’s it going today?”  I asked. “Fine,” she said, ”Today is my last day!  For 20 years I’ve been delivering flyers in this neighbourhood and today is my last day.”   “Wow, 20 years, that’s amazing.  I’ve watched you over the past 5 and I can’t believe that you’ve been strong enough to pull this heavy thing…”  (I grabbed the handle of her wagon and pulled it a few inches – it must have weighed 40 pounds!)  “It’s not so bad… you get used to it.”   “So why now, why retire this year?   “Over this past year I’ve just realized that I can’t do this any more… you just know these things.  I’m thinking of working at Walmart.”   “That would be great for you, better weather!”   She didn’t catch my joke and said, “Walmart will at least keep me warm in the winter.” 

And then I started to feel a bit bad.  This is her last day, I thought, her retirement.  Is there going to be a big party later tonight? A gold watch? Speeches?  “Well then I better thank her,” I thought.  

“You know, you must have helped thousands of people in this community save money over the years – with all those coupons and sales flyers.  Thank you for that!”   She just paused and took it in for a second and then said, “Yeah I guess so.”  Then she smiled.  I said thanks again and then I asked her what her name was.  “Colleen…”   “Hi Colleen, I’m John…” and then shaking her hand I said, “All the best in your retirement.”  And then I continued on my walk, and she picked up her wagon handle, looked over her address list one more time, and pulled her stack of flyers to the next house.  I had to take a picture as she walked away.   I’ll miss her.

Too many times over the years I’ve felt a disdain for the flyer industry and everyone attached to it.  All that wasted paper, and recycling hassle.  All that endless consumer pressure.  But for Colleen it was her job, her life in some large part.  

I can only hope to do what I do with as much dignity, perseverance and strength.

Here’s a link to a CNN belief blog piece on the book. First big national story… and a good piece.    http://on.cnn.com/ddbTzZ

And here’s a link to a Calgary Sun story on the book (also from this morning)… a bit skeptical, but hey, don’t they say that all advertising in good advertizing?  Some of the “quotes” are a bit of a stretch too… the risk in someone else writing your story.    http://bit.ly/cb09xs

Pretty exciting. I’ve got a couple of media interviews set up. Hopefully the one I did with CNN’s Belief blog will run this week. I have no idea how all of this is going to play out… and at least for now, I feel very comfortable with that.

 According to Nelson Mandela (and he should know), it’s all about the unity.  “[The World Cup] symbolizes the power of football to bring people together from all over the world, regardless of language, the colour of one’s skin, political or religious persuasion.”   Nelson Mandela, in a message to the FIFA congress, Johannesburg.   And it’s this mystical unifying power that makes the beautiful game most attractive.

 Sure, there’s the sheer joy of the sport, the vicarious thrill of victory, the unparalleled power of a footballer’s leg, and force-of-nature playmaking skills of athletes like the Netherland’s Arjen Robben or Germany’s Miroslav Klose.  But in this tournament there’s something more.  

The National Geographic’s Sean Wilsey captures it best, “What makes the World Cup most beautiful is the world, all of us together. The joy of being one of the billion or more people watching 32 countries abide by 17 rules fills me with the conviction, perhaps ignorant, but like many ignorant convictions, fiercely held, that soccer can unite us all.”

Deep down we all want this.

 We long to live in a world that operates the way it ought to; where nations are allowed to be fully and uniquely themselves – nationally, ethnically, religiously, socio-economically – while still singing their anthems side by side in the stadium of life.  African Vuvuzelas buzzing over Britain’s, God Save the Queen, and Germany’s chart topping, ‘Schland oh Schland’! 

 We yearn for a world where the playing field is truly level, where a poor boy from Uruguay can become a global superstar, where a third world Ghana can again defeat a first world United States – this time  during a G20 meeting!

 We crave the kindness and humanity of a Muslim Iranian football squad that brings pre-game flowers to a Catholic Mexican goaltender who has just lost his mother, as they did in 2006.

We’re desperate for a force that can cause wars to cease, just as qualifying for the World Cup tournament did for the Ivory Coast in that same year.

And deep inside we want to believe that there really is ‘one thing’ that can unite us all. We hope against hope that there is some greater force for good that can capture our imaginations; that can cause us to take our eyes off of our limited, sometimes selfish selves, and allow us to see the freedom of an unbounded bigger picture.

We want to be a part of something significant, something larger than life, something beautiful!

In a world that is rife with sectarian violence, terrorized by the ever elusive evil of racism, plagued by wicked forces of poverty and illness, strained by excessive anxiety and stress, bogged down by boredom and ennui, and deeply searching for a greater meaning – a world that’s lost its ability to play – we long for a better reality; for a new way of life.

 The World Cup offers a pointer to this possibility (even with all of its fallibilities). It ignites the child within and dares it to step on the field and play again, to move past the ubiquitous cynicism that says, ‘Impossible;’ …to have faith.

The World Cup begs us to grow young again, and dares us to dream of the possibility of glory, to believe that everyone has a chance and deserves to play the game.  Children from around the world are now drawing this kind of inspiration from the World Cup.  Hope is being kindled in each of their young hearts.  As they take in the beauty, grandeur and passion of the sport, an all-too-human dream is growing.  One that says, “I can do that one day!” 

And perhaps, one day, they will…  lead us into a more unified, peace-filled, global future.

 Who hasn’t dreamed of playing that game? Which of us ‘often picked last sorts’ doesn’t yearn for the chance to play on that team?  The world as it should be.  An ancient Hebrew prophet once described heaven as a place where, “The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there.” Zechariah 8:5

In a world where children starve in the streets, where some lose limbs, and others their very lives, this image is what, I imagine, we all hope for; simple yet beautiful.

 A beautiful game.  Heaven on earth.

The whole time Noah was like a little kid (in the best sense)… “Wow, look at that!  A cloud… a cliff… a meadow”   Surely all photographers have this childish a view of the world. 

Needless to say, I’m having trouble walking today.  But the memory is already turning so beautiful.  “One step at a time… I can do that… I’ll finish this!”   I said it often on my cross Canada cycling trip in 2005.   I say it now as I await a summer break.   Noah labeled the photo; John and God chillin…   he’s a bit of a prophet…  and I hope to be doing more of that chillin soon.

Then, an hour later I’m at my son’s school, picking him up from his last day of high school (special needs class).  As I’m thanking his teachers, hugs all around, I realize that Edward has no idea that he won’t be coming back to this classroom, ever again.  To him it was just like any other day when I would pick him up.  He was totally oblivious to reality.   I found myself feeling sad for him… and then sad for that earlier caller.   The caller was oblivious out of the desire to control her world, Edward was cognitively unaware.  And both had no idea.  And it made me wonder what I’m oblivious to in life.  Do any of us really know where we’re blind, manipulative, or living an illusion?