Staying Humble Posted on July 2, 2013 by billmcmurdo mather Craig Mather – pic from Daily Record There’s an old Mac Davis song that goes: “Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way.” The song is mince but it is meant to be a spoof, anyway. It could be a great commentary on recent pronouncements by interim(?) Rangers CEO, Craig Mather, who notoriously said recently that Rangers FC was going to be humble in its new role as a fully-fledged member of the new SPFL. I feel the need to stick up for Mather, who has received considerable flak from some Rangers fans for his comments. I have a few reasons for siding with Mather. Firstly, he is on my mailing list for my blog to leaders and he made his statement about being humble not long after my last piece went out, which touches on the errors of pride and arrogance. I would like to think I influenced the Gers CEO by this blog but maybe that’s just wishful thinking! The second reason I would stick up for Mather in his comments is that I don’t think for one minute he was talking about being humble as a message of capitulation to the SPFL cabal; if anything, just the opposite. Because the main reason I think Mather was spot on in his comments is that he was absolutely right. Being a Ranger is one which inspires great pride in the glorious history, heritage and tradition of this wonderful club – yet demands that you carry this glory humbly. Humility is always the safest position, particularly when you are involved with something that engenders great pride. It is right and proper for those in the Rangers family to be immensely and fiercely proud of the club but that pride must never become arrogance and conceit. Sadly, a pompous disdain for others crept in during the Murray years and that is why everyone associated with the club now has a great opportunity to redefine Rangers – what the club means and stands for. It is a good time to re-visit some of the old traditions that made Rangers so great – including inculcating values like honour, self-discipline, integrity and dignity once again. Humility, of course, being the foundation of these attributes. Unlike certain other clubs which could be mentioned, Rangers should not oppress smaller, weaker clubs but should be a club that leads the way and be a benefactor to others. By this I don’t mean Rangers should allow others to exploit the massive commercial power of the club in order to line their own pockets. For me, being a Rangers supporter is akin to my support for the Union. People often assume that we Unionists are blind to the faults of Great Britain – the excesses and abuses of power that stem from imperial hubris, for instance. Not so. I am fiercely critical of policies and practices engaged in by successive British governments – particularly the shameful involvement in campaigns like Iraq and Afghanistan that have seen such awful loss of life and limb suffered by our service personnel. However, although there are things about my nation that grieve and hurt me, it is still the nation I love. I am still proud to be British and Scottish. There is much to be proud of but also there is a crying need to be humble, particularly in light of all the things about being British that are not so great. Likewise, there are many things about Rangers that irk and frustrate me. Yet Rangers is still my team and always will be. There’s a phrase that Gers fans use that goes like this: “We do not choose; we are chosen.” The thing is, if you really believe that, you would have to concede that there is then no room for arrogance. So Craig Mather was right – Rangers people should be humble because of the enormous privilege it is to follow the greatest team in the world. Equally, being British is an incalculably great privilege. “We Are The People” is not a slogan of arrogance and pompous self-importance. It is an acknowledgement of privilege and favour. That which makes us swell with pride should elicit from us great humility. Let’s remember this sober truth, demonstrated over and over again – especially in the world of football:- Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. PROVERBS 16:18 watp....shiz
Posted on: Wed, 03 Jul 2013 11:15:10 +0000
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