Margaret Court-John McEnroe-Inner Peace
Margaret Court and John McEnroe have a similar goal as most of us do – to find inner peace.
Margaret Court
In 1969 I was at the New South Wales Open tennis tournament held at the White City grass courts. Walking through the grounds I passed by a striking athletic woman tennis player. Eye contact was made – I felt a connection – but we each went our own way. That was my personal experience with Margaret Court. It was the same tournament when Pancho Gonzalez was quoted in the papers as saying instead of people just looking at him he would rather they introduce themselves and initiate a conversation.I often wonder what would have transpired if I had just initiated communication. Court won the tournament.
Margaret Court is possibly the best female tennis player who ever played the game. She won 24 grand slam titles. Her closest competitor in today’s world is Serena Williams who has won 23 grand slam titles.
After her tennis career Margaret Court went on to become a christian minister and established Margaret Court Ministries Inc.. In 1995 she established and founded Victory Life Centre, where she is the senior minister. Victory Life Centre has an outreach not only to the community of Perth, but to the nation as a whole.
Recently Court has come under fire for her beliefs and stance on marriage. She hold a biblical view which holds marriage is between a man and a woman. Responding to questions when interviewed, she does not support gay, lesbian, transgender marriages. This view has caused public celebrities to berate her and take action to take her name off the world class stadium where the Australian Open is held.
John McEnroe
My personal experience with John McEnroe was at the Orange Lawn Tennis Club where I was the tennis director. That was the year McEnroe reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon as an 18 year old. Following Wimbledon that same year he was a surprise competitor at our club where Gene Scott was director of the tournament. McEnroe was truly an artist on the court. He created. His personality was always one of flare-ups on court and questioning officials decisions. Off court he loved the music scene and enjoyed a party.
Recently John McEnroe has added his influence to the controversy of Margaret Court. His personality has always been one of a volatile nature. Now he is looking for ‘inner peace’. Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King have also used their influence to try to rename Margaret Court Arena.
Conclusion
Both Margaret Court and John McEnroe are searching for ‘inner peace’. It would appear that Court has found hers, while Johnny Mac is still searching and using his volatile personality to continue to stir things up. Hopefully he will find the inner peace he is searching for.
Should Margaret Court be made to ‘pay’ for her inner peace by renaming the arena? Does she have the right to express her beliefs without renaming the arena?
