The problem of sudden success was highlighted a few years ago in a New York Times report on the aftermath of the Boston Red Sox having finally won The World Series Baseball after eighty six years of trying. It said: ‘Bostonians are swirling with elation, but also scratching their heads. What are Red Sox fans to do when the angst of being one of the world’s greatest underdogs is gone?’ Mike Andrews, a former star player, said: ‘Being the underdog was part of our life and now it’s gone; we need to come up with something new.’
It reminds me of that Leunig cartoon of the man who climbed to the top of the ladder of success and looked out only to find nothing but empty space; and he says: ‘There’s nothing there.’ Jesus knew that. ‘You can win the world,’ he said, ‘But it means nothing if you lose your soul.’