“Why are millions of people ’round the world, who may normally have no interest in sport, mesmerized by the Olympic games? It’s because the vestiges of the old tribal mind, which has grown to become a national mind, is bolstered by even the slightest success. So, a bronze medal in Ping Pong creates a hero in some places, and makes the people of that nation feel better about themselves.
The remnants of the tribal mind are still very present. If your mind is global, you may watch the table tennis for the pleasure of it, but you wouldn’t care much who won or lost. You certainly wouldn’t go potty if a man or woman you have never met – who happens to have the citizenship as you – does well…
The international fervor over sporting events endorses the national ego, bolstering the illusion that the people of one country are special and separate from others. We won. The foreigners lost. We’re better…
By pumping national pride, the government tethers people inside the national mindset, where it can sell them on the idea that whatever the government says is good for the country must also be good for the individual.”
Stuart Wilde, in “Whispering Winds of Change”
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Jeff Maziarek, author of Spirituality Simplified and Codi’s Journey, launched Pondercentral.com in April 2007 as a Web-based forum for “PONDER on THIS,” a series of weekday inspirational email messages he began sending to subscribers in March 1999. A FREE service since its inception, “PONDER on THIS” provides subscribers with meaningful content to assist them on their individual paths of spiritual growth. In addition, it benefits subscribers, authors, and publishers by including links to Amazon.com where subscribers can learn more about the book being quoted, and also purchase it.
