Theme: UNITY IS STRENGTH
FROM SCRIPTURE:
“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” – 1 Corinthians v 10
“How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.” – Psalm 133 v 1
A PRAYER:
Lord, lead us to take what you have given us – love, mercy, grace, forgiveness – and spread those in this world, lavishing them upon others in our lives. May your love bind us together in perfect unity. All this we pray through your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen
MESSAGE FOR THE WEEK: “Unity is Strength”
Our theme for this week is “Unity is Strength”, and our anonymous quote today is: “Unstoppable are those people who stand in unity.”
“Unity is strength” is a well-known saying that has been around for centuries. The idea behind the phrase is that when people – in your case young men – work together, they are more potent than when they work alone. It was for hundreds of years the formal motto of the Netherlands, and was imported by the Dutch when they arrived in South Africa. In World War One, many dozens of the Old Collegians who died on the battlefields of France would have had the words inscribed on their beret and cap badges of the South African Army, as they went ‘over the top’ to face the German machine guns.
At College, we have for decades prided ourselves on our sense of loyalty and brotherhood, not only to ourselves but to our school itself. The idea that individually we are weak but together and collectively we are strong is beloved by schools such as Maritzburg College, with their traditional ethos, time-honoured value systems and strong emphasis on team sports.
Allied to this concept of ‘unity is strength’ are others, like team-spirit, camaraderie, loyalty and service – and I have no doubt that your parents sent you to this school so that you would learn to live out these important traits. And having observed College boys over a couple of decades now, I can see that in many regards you do have a very strong sense of unity. It is especially noticeable when, as a school, College takes on rival institutions – and I think especially of the massive inter-school with Pretoria Boys High School, to be held this coming weekend. On Saturday, when you are scrapping away again PBHS in Pretoria in a multitude of events, you will be far from Goldstone’s and Pape’s, and in many cases far from your parents. You will be facing a determined and much respected opponent, intent on inflicting defeat upon you, and sending you back down the N3 to Maritzburg battered and bruised. Your determination will be sorely tested – and, as Maritzburg College boys have done for 160 years, your strength with lie in your commitment to each other, to your team and to your school.
But, for all that, your unity as a group of 1 200 College boys certainly can be better, and it never ceases to concern me how sometimes, despite your use of words like ‘brotherhood’ and ‘brothers for life’, you sometimes turn on each other. Every week there’s an incident reported via Mr Paterson and the housemasters of poor behaviour – like bullying or theft. No organisation can ever be truly united, when this kind of behaviour is carried out from within it. And most worrying of all is how some of you boys turn a blind are when you witness bullying or theft. Boys who bully and steal, and allow bullying and stealing, disrespect the cherished idea of brothers and brotherhood, and because much of this behaviour is never formally reported to the staff it really is up to you boys, through Kadira and the prefects, to ensure that the culture of the school is healthy and positive and in line with what you we (the staff) and your parents expect. Treat each other kindly and with respect, and save your belligerence and aggression for your opponents on a Saturday.
SPORT RESULTS
There was a wide array of sporting activity on the weekend, involving cycling, hockey, volleyball, canoeing, chess and rugby.
Well done to you all on your endeavours versus not just Clifton, but the other schools played on a stagger – sometimes a very challenging stagger at that.
The 1st XI hockey was leading at half-time against Clifton, and was unlucky to give up a draw at worst in the last few moments of the match. Work is required for Pretoria Boys High, who always offer a stiff challenge.
After cruising to an early lead, the 1st XV faced a determined Clifton team, that managed to hold it for much of the next 30 minutes. But well done to Kadira and his team, as they asserted themselves in the last 10 minutes, to bring about a very acceptable score-line.
MERIT CERTIFICATES
Arising from the many activities over the last few weeks, we have a number of merit certificates to award:
AA MBAMBO [Lamond] Volleyball Captain 2023
J WORTHMANN [Commons] Outstanding performance at the KZN Canoeing Sprint Championship
LD O’CONNOR [Strachan] Outstanding performance at the KZN Canoeing Sprint Championship
J JANSEN VAN RENSBURG [Calder] Outstanding performance at the KZN Canoeing Sprint Championship
K SEARLE [Fuller] 3rd in age group KZN Provincial XCO #1
RT WARR [Strachan] Gold Award PSSA Youth Competition
BJ THORNTON-DIBB [Barns] Gold Award PSSA Youth Competition
IJ KAYEMBE [Pape] Bronze Boys U20 100m SA Schools Athletics Championships
JL SWEETNAM [Strachan] Bronze Boys U20 Shotput SA Schools Athletics Championships
MP MARILLIER [Barns] Outstanding performance at the SSA Regional Level 3 Swimming Championships /
Selected to represent KZN at the National High School Swimming Championships
JJ MUMFORD [Snow] Outstanding performance at the SSA Regional Level 3 Swimming Championships
It’s especially gratifying to see that several of the boys mentioned are also fully committed to the school’s extra mural and leadership programmes, which I hope offers an inspiration to all you boys to get involved and to do your best at everything that you do.
Best wishes for the week ahead.
Pro Aris et Focis
Matthew M Marwick (Senior Deputy Headmaster)