Football didn't come home

Frome Valley Voice Article Aug 2018 Well Football didn’t come home, our Andy didn’t win, or indeed even participate in Wimbledon, and surely by the time you read this in August, our incredible heat wave will have come to an end. Nothing lasts forever. Even the best things come to an end. The good news is that so do all bad things as well. There are two possible responses to this reality, one is to bemoan how everything is changing, the other is to decide to live and make the best we can of each moment and day. I am now officially a grumpy old man, I was only two when England last won a world cup semi-final, and I seem to be naturally improving at the bemoaning option! But this really doesn’t help me, and frankly is a pain to live with. So with help I try to find a way to make the best of each day. The trouble is this is easier said than done, especially when our hopes or dreams have been shattered. So how can we change our mind-set, and improve our attitudes. Here I have some advice. The first is, get a dog! I am only slightly joking. Wandering home after Croatia pipped us to the post in a semi-final, suddenly became more bearable, when my dog looked at me with her tilted head saying, ‘you’ve left me in, all on my own, while you were out enjoying yourself, will you play with me now?’ ‘Please!!’ Even at my grumpiest, I can’t resist a dog! Another thought that helps is to have in mind each day the things that are really important and treasure them. I realise this is in danger of becoming a circular argument. For if the things you treasure are the very things that you have lost, like the hope of England ever winning a world cup, ever! Then you are in trouble. Here perspective is required. I barely dare say this, but football is, ‘only a game.’ A great game, I’ll grant you, but nevertheless, a game. Here is my great sadness, for I fear that for some of us, we treasure nothing more than our tribe, our team winning. Or else we treasure something else, of really limited meaning or worth. I think this is related to what the Bible talks of as Idolatry. Making something your treasure that ultimately has very limited value. So if you can’t get a dog, then my advice is look deep and find something in your heart that you really treasure, something that is valuable and gives deep meaning. For many people this treasure is their relationships or friends. But I know people who become champions, passionately engaged in all manner of worthy pursuits. Find something that fulfils you and work a little towards it each day. For me this treasure is Jesus. I realise to some this sounds strange, but Jesus is not really a religious conviction, more a personal friend and guide. When I’m feeling grumpy, I can meet him in my heart and catch a whiff of his love for others. He expands my heart whenever I notice him in the beauty of creation that surrounds us, from the tiniest flower to the entire sky mottled in an evening sunset. But most of all I treasure Jesus when I encounter him in the people I meet, both Christians and non-Christians, whenever they display a richness of generosity, love or just simple fun. On a gloomy day when I’m feeling grumpy (so for me that is most mornings!) I need to look for my treasure. Once the dog has licked me or chewed my sandals, I need to open my eyes and find the richest thing that I can imagine and invest my heart into that treasure. As Jesus said, ‘for where your heart is, there your treasure will be.’ So football didn’t come home. But I came home and found peace in my dog and my God! Stephen Newell