成人论坛

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Haydon Spenceley

Football Season starts today!

Good morning.

And it is a great morning indeed, because today the English Football League season starts. Unless you鈥檙e a fan of Sheffield Wednesday or Southampton, in which case it started for you last night. The beginning of a new football season is an exciting time for me as Club Chaplain of Northampton Town. As a new season dawns, there is hope and promise and, for a few short days at least, any eventual outcome is possible. All too soon the reality of the situation will doubtless set in - I鈥檝e been a Cobblers fan for some time after all - but there鈥檚 something about a bold, bright first day of a new season which really sets the pulse racing.

Before you switch off in a huff, I think the same applies to so many areas of life, not merely the sporting arena. Each new day is an opportunity to not just try something new, or to make marginal gains on how yesterday and all the days before it went, but to allow ourselves to be made new too. My faith tells me that whatever the outcome of each day, I am held and loved by God through it. This gives me comfort and confidence. It also inspires me to trust God day by day, as with each new day, the mercies I am given multiply, not just for my own good, but so that I can share life, hope and love with others too. So I鈥檒l be trying to be faithful, right to the final whistle.

Today, be blessed to know the love, mercy, joy, possibility and transformation of a new day and a new start with God. Amen