麻豆社

鈥淭his weekend we鈥檙e racing again. If Diego goes the wrong way, I鈥檒l have to stop and let him pass.鈥�

James Teagle had been running third in the Santander Triathlon when he missed the turn for the finishing line and crashed into the barrier. Diego Mentridor, running behind him all the way, overtook but then realised, and stood aside to let him pass. It was, we heard yesterday, the ultimate act of sportsmanship 鈥� and yet never heard of before. Why, if this is what sport is about?

My brother had taken us sailing on a choppy sea. We were bailing out so furiously we didn鈥檛 spot our son鈥檚 little terrier being swept overboard. Forty minutes later, our tears competing with the spume, we were hailed by a distant boat asking if we鈥檇 lost a dog. The father and son were seething, having dropped out of a race to rescue him: the mother, simply delighted to reunite a small boy with his pet.

True sportsmanship. Fairness. Kindness. A genuine sense of priority. The triathlete Mentridor was given honorary third place and equal prize money anyway, and quite right too. But if he hadn鈥檛 been, he鈥檇 nonetheless be hailed throughout the world for far more than running in a race most of us had never heard of until now.

And he鈥檚 prompted corresponding altruism in his rival, acknowledging his debt of honour. Who wouldn鈥檛 do the same? If you scratch my back, I鈥檓 hardly going to stab yours. The reason respect towards parents is crucial in all major faiths and most cultures is because we owe our parents life itself: how can we not return their love?

Generosity is not just reciprocal but infectious, one good deed often spawning many more. Last week our daughter called on friends she barely knows. They took her in, fed her and gave her a bed for the night. Even as I thanked them I knew we can never repay them鈥� but we can pass their hospitality on, to someone else in need.

The poet John Williams was reading Luke鈥檚 Gospel in a train, when a stranger opposite suffered a fit. The man鈥檚 American companion held him safe and calmed him, then told Williams that in the war he鈥檇 been wounded and left for dead in No Man鈥檚 Land. This Englishman risked his life to rescue him, but before reaching cover was hit by a shell and permanently disabled. So the GI abandoned his home, his job and fianc茅e to care for him for life. 鈥淗e did that for me,鈥� he explained. 鈥淭here鈥檚 nothing I can鈥檛 do for him.鈥�

After they disembarked, Williams continued reading Luke鈥檚 account of the crucifixion with those words ringing in his ears. He did that for me: there鈥檚 nothing I can鈥檛 do for him.

For when the One Great Scorer comes
To mark against your name,
He writes 鈥� not that you won or lost 鈥�
But how you played the Game.

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