Chelsea's Great Spirit.

Chelsea beat Barcelona last night against all the odds. Down one goal and to ten men against the recognised ‘best team in the world’ they won. They showed great spirit and belief. I’m also half way through ‘Senna’, the film, and he too had the same spirit and belief. And finally I’ve just watched Queen’s set at Live Aid, where again they stole the show by spirit. Now I’m used to ‘Great Spirit’, I speak to it on the rare occasions I’m in a sweat as the non anthropomorphised form of god. In that context it is ‘out there’ but it seems, for all their human foibles, Chelsea, Senna and Freddy Mercury see it as ‘in here.’ That’s quite a difference. Out there spirit is comforting, somehow manageable and mysterious, but in here, well in me, it’s quite a different matter. It’s frightening, awe inspiring, intimidating. How, I ask myself, can I afford to let that wild animal loose? How can I dare to unleash such energy when it might destroy me, make me a laughing stock? I haven’t. I probably couldn’t even beat Drodba at darts. My spirit sees it as a shame, but says, ‘hey if that’s what you want to do.’ And when I rail at it to show me its ways it just says, ‘trust me,’ oh and, ‘practice, you can’t do anything without practice.’ Practice creates skill which makes belief, and belief allows flight. Ayrton Senna had that belief. On the weekend of his death another driver was killed on the Saturday and Ayrton was torn in many directions. On the Sunday morning he looked to his bible for help. He opened it and read, ‘and god will give you his greatest gift, to see him.’ His accident was a freak. A part of the suspension hit him in the head. Two inches either way and he would have walked back to the pits. After his death the whole nation of Brazil mourned their greatest spirit. So what is great spirit?