Snooker

I like Steve Davis. He is like everybody’s favourite uncle, smooth, relaxed, unflappable. Now, at not that far short of my age, he could be a favourite grandfather as well. So it gave me great pleasure at the weekend to watch him strut his stuff at the snooker table once again against world champion John Higgins. Not that I watch snooker that much. To confess to being a snooker fan is normally an indicator of a misspent youth or an idle retirement. But there is something remarkable poetic about the movement of the balls around the table. The different colours arranged against the green background. The angle of the elbow, the chin almost resting on the cue, the deep concentration, the elegant stroke, the click of the cue ball, and the satisfying plop of the ball in the pocket.

There can’t be many other sports, where one’s opponent has to sit out the entire length of the game until you make an error. No such thing as turn and turn about. I guess the nearest thing is squash, where you continue to hold your serve and score points until you make an error. But even then your opponent still plays. He doesn’t sit on the sidelines scratching his head and biting his fingernails.

But the thing about the game is that its all about control and about placement and knowing two or three moves ahead of time where the balls are likely to end up. Thats what I like about watching a maestro like Steve. You watch the delicate balance of the balls moving about the table Sometimes I see God in control of the events of my life like that. The balls are all over the place. Some awkwardly placed or hidden from view. But when he takes control, when He watches over my ways, He manages to connect each event together and propel them in such a way that I grow in grace and He gets the glory

"He knows the way that I take and when He has tested me I shall come forth as gold". (Job 23:10)

The things that happen, by themselves don’t seem like much, but they all work together with a single vision and purpose in mind.