When I was growing up Brazil was synonymous for me with one thing - brilliant football - and one person - Pele. As ever, in this 2018 World Cup, Brazil are one of the favourites - though their star tends to shine less brightly than it did those years ago.
Yet today when I think of Brazil I do not only associate it with football. Instead I associate it with the rainforest, or more specifically, the shrinking of the rainforest. Below are two satellite images 14 years apart, the first the remaining rainforest, the second that which was there in Mato Grosso in 1992 (courtesy wikipedia).
There are many things that rudely put football in its place and perspective and this is one of them. Would we rather have a great World Cup or reduce the worldwide losses of rainforest from its current level of - wait for it - over 70 million acres a year?
God has made us stewards of creation first and made us to be footballers as a somewhat lower priority.
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