Of Mbappe, Pele And The "Original Pele”!!!

Of MBAPPE, PELE AND THE “ORIGINAL PELE”!!!

Well, the Football fiesta in Russia has ended. However during any Football WC, the name of Pele would invariably do the rounds. In 1982…one Diego Maradona was branded as “White Pele”. The exploits of Romario in 1994 WC and those of Ronaldo in 2002 edition were compared with the “Greatest” to kick the leather sphere. So no one was surprised when the new kid on the block…France’s Mbappe's was being heralded as the new Pele after some of his heady feats on the field particularly so in the crucial game against Argentina in the QF and Croatia in the title-decider. Now for a moment forget Mbappe and even Pele the Footballer who was originally born Edson Arantes Do Nascimento!!! Let’s switch tracks and concentrate only on the word “Pele”. Now it may astonish you that nobody knows how Pele got the name Pele. No, not even Pele (though there has much speculation on the subject) nor for that matter is there any meaning for the word Pele in Brazilian or Portuguese language (remember Portuguese ruled Brazil for a long time).

Now coming to the spiritual realm, ever wondered what is the meaning of the word “Pele” in Hebrew? Well it means “Wonderful” as this portion culled from the Interlinear Bible testifies. What’s more, it is a one of the many “titles’” used to describe Lord, the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6)…

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Wonderful

I wonder if there is Divine providence in the World’s greatest footballer ever acquiring the name Pele but I have no doubt whatsoever that performing wondrous works-befitting His Name- is part and parcel of our Lord’s character.

Coming to bare human sentiments…honestly what causes “wonder”? Is it not when we get something substantially more than what we actually bargained for? Imagine my wonder, when I ordered for Andhra meals in a certain hotel in Vizag and lo and behold was greeted by a glass of refreshing grape juice and Meetha Pan at the end of the main course!!! Talk of Customer delight leapfrogging Customer satisfaction by several notches (a marketing cliché???Ever the marketing man, Yours Truly ). I make it a point to patronize that Hotel (want to guess it’s name…well it’s name begins with D) whenever I visit that age-old port city of Andhra Pradesh. In this message, I want to train my spotlight not only on those instances’ in the Scriptures where we see the wonder-working One at work but (…boy… gear up…there is a twist in the tale too…) but also on those episodes (savory and unsavory) in the Bible, where we see puny, irreverent, finite human beings…YES WE…causing “wonder” in the “Wonderful” One.

Firstly actions’ of the Wonderful One in helping two helpless women from “behind the scenes”, as it were, for in both these cases the Scripture does not explicitly state that God “DID IT” but for the spiritually discerning ones’, His Divine Hand would be a bit too obvious to miss…

Ah…permit me a privilege of alliteration (we started with “F”ootball right?) when it comes to choosing my sub-topics with words beginning with an alphabet…what else… “F”. Permit me too repetitive use of the word “Wonder”. Speaking of repetition ever wondered why Martin Luther King in his immortal speech “I have a dream” in Washington on Aug 28th 1963 used the title of his message again and again in his speech or for that why he used the phrase “Let freedom ring” and “Now is the time” repeatedly in that unforgettable discourse? Repetition facilitates registration…Ladies and Gentlemen!!! Eons before Martin Luther King, a lowly Prophet Amos emboldened and empowered by the Lord authoritatively repeated the phrase “For three sins, even for four” (Amos 1-2 NIV) in his Earth-shaking message at Bethel, Israel. Now who taught this uneducated, poor Prophet the nuances of eloquent oratory? The Wonderful One!!!

Family…

While , my main topic , is “Wonder” , I would be failing in my duties if I miss out on one single truth, which runs across the pages of the Bible which is that God has not left in the Scriptures any issue untouched in the vast panorama of human relationships. Another “wonderful” act of our Wonder-working God? You bet!!! Oh yes, He has not left untouched even the most sensitive relationship between a mother-in-law & a daughter-in-law often dubbed in Indian colloquy as a 'Tu Tu Main Main' relationship which has been a theme of many a TV Soap opera (in the Indian context).

In fact in the short, delightful story of Ruth we see the portrayal of an ideal mother-in-law (Naomi) & a selfless daughter-in-law (Ruth) who instead of asserting their rights gladly seem to sacrifice them for the benefit of the other.

Nowhere in the Scriptures does the truth that God 'is the helper of the helpless' (Psalms 10:14) ring more true than in the lives of these 2 widows, who begin their long, arduous task of re-building their lives after the shattering loss of losing their husbands to untimely deaths wrought by sicknesses’. The news of good crops in her native land draws Naomi -an immigrant Jew-in the land of Moab back to the land of her fathers’ along with a determined widowed daughter-in-law (of a different nationality) in tow. Now this blessed daughter-in-law of Naomi would not let her mother-in-law experience the travails of widowhood all alone (Ruth 1:6-17)!!! The inspiring words of Ruth steeped in agape, self-sacrificing love recorded in verse17 would make any person taking his or her marital vows proud.