WORLD CUP Football 2006 is here, and 32 nations representing the greatest configuration of football genius on the planet have advanced on Germany to compete for the Jules Rimet Trophy.
It's that time in our lives when a single sporting event brings the world to a stop as millions of human beings from widely different backgrounds prepare to make common cause with each other in joyous celebration of victory, or rueful remorse at defeat.
The 2006 epic has already attracted more than a million fans to Germany, and we can expect to see extraordinary acts of restraint at trouble spots across the world where even groups locked in war and strife may temporarily cross their divides to give football the priority.
Unfortunately, we cannot ignore the possibility of some bizarre act of disruption, and we pray that the eccentric minded among us will resist such temptation and lay down arms to afford the world uninterrupted enjoyment of this supreme spectacle.
Jamaica has had the dubious honour of playing second fiddle to England, one of the top ten teams, in that country's farewell match on its home ground.
The predictable loss, by a greater margin than expected, should not tarnish the fact that we shared in the excitement of the preliminary practice matches taking place all over the globe as a prelude to the finals.
We can also take pride in the selection of our own football fraternity members who have been invited to perform important official functions at the events.
The game now moves on to much higher levels, and as we prepare to move our television sets to vantage points at home and office, it is not too much to hope that for the next month we may see a reduction in the fractiousness, violence and bruises that continue to beset our national life.
We must also advise our parliamentarians that the sectoral debate so disgracefully postponed to facilitate their presence at a by-election race, will provide poor competition for the display of artistry expected from the 64 games to be played over 5,760 minutes of dazzling football.
It could still be a tempestuous period ahead, as we face the concerns and anxieties of the hurricane season, the hardships of a sapped economy, and the political in- fighting signalling early elections on the horizon.
But let the games begin. At the end of it all we will be thankful for the respite, and grateful that we were able to enjoy the sheer beauty of the contest and to witness those glorious highlights of the world's best loved sport.
Our lives and personal fortunes may not be changed come the end of the contest, but we will all have been spectators at what is arguably the greatest show on Earth.
THE OPINIONS ON THIS PAGE, EXCEPT FOR THE ABOVE, DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE GLEANER.
