Da Silva forgives

Eduardo DaSilva has forgiven Martin Taylor of Birmingham city. DaSilva will spend the next nine months in therapy. I never saw the tackle,the break was so terrifying that Youtube and Sky sports pulled the high lites of the challenge.

I never chose to see the challenge either. One Joe Thiesman in a lifetime is enough. Joe never recovered from that sack. Twenty five years have come and gone since that Monday night game and surgical techniques tools and therapy have progressed to the point we may see Da Silva again.

If you are Croatian the loss of Eduardo DaSilva will be felt.Martin Taylor the Birmingham defender has received death threats and this whole event maybe a rorschach test of football and humanity in general. Arsene Wenger's post game reaction to the challenge so outraged the Arsenal manager that he called for a lifetime ban.That was a visceral response from the normally measured Wenger. He has since rescinded those comments.

Thats what the mundane does to us.We do what is expected of us and in an instant the mundane becomes horrifying.It shocks us awake and reminds us that what we take for granted as normal at any moment can become extraordinary. Thats why Eduardo DaSilva's forgiveness is so powerful right now. Like the grotesqueness of the break DaSilva's choice to forgive so quickly and take a view that he will be back is out of the ordinary.

I am conditioned to prepare myself for the extreme response. We are a don't tread on me species. But every once in a while,like Eduardo DaSilva's break,the unexpected happens and we are all asked to remember the better sides of our nature.The side that in time of war,crises or fear never surfaces for fear it will only bring more suffering. But Eduardo DaSilva reminded me of my fear,flaws and faulty logic. I wonder if the mind heals faster and aides the body in recovery when it is at peace with itself? Eduardo Dasilva has challenged all of us to participate and prepare ourselves for the shocking when it surfaces in our own lives. Would you have forgiven Martin Taylor?