(Not) Bending it like Beckham

 

Photo by Peter Glaser on Unsplash

In the last few months, I’ve started playing football. Growing up as a girl in the 1980s, this simply wasn’t an option, even though I probably knew far more about the beautiful game than many of the boys. 

We are the Brentford Empress Penguins (part of the brilliant Planet Penguin football foundation). My oldest teammate is in her 80s; several have overcome serious illness in the last few years; many are – like me – thrilled to finally be able to play the sport we love. With time, we have settled into our favoured positions on the pitch, although our options are admittedly impacted more by pragmatism than physical prowess. I, for example, have found my natural home in an attacking position on the left wing. This role has been favoured by many greats of the game, such as Christiano Ronaldo and David Beckham, who were known for their speed and technical ability. I am not blessed with either. However, my left eye contributes little to my vision. It therefore makes logical sense to position myself out wide, near the touchline, so I stand at least some chance of seeing the ball coming at me!

The Empresses are perhaps best described as a happy jumble. Training sessions have become a highlight of my week and I haven’t laughed as much in ages. It’s wonderful to be part of such an inclusive community, where all that is required of me is to turn up and pitch in with whatever ability I have. 

At the same time, my family and I joined a new church at the start of the year. After a busy couple of years, it has been lovely to just be part of the congregation for a few months. Inevitably, however, the Protestant work ethic is starting to kick in and I find myself wondering whether I shouldn’t be doing something again on a Sunday morning. After all, Paul tells us that Jesus gave the church gifts so that ‘some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry.’ (Ephesians 4:7-12, NRSV) I’m not sure I’d call myself any of those. Having young children makes it challenging to even go on the coffee rota. No-one wants my 5-year-old stealing all the Jammie Dodgers. I am naturally introverted as well, so really my happy place is plugging away on my laptop in solitude. 

It’s hard though to feel that I’m making much of a contribution to ‘building up the body of Christ’ in this phase of life, even writing for esteemed publications such as More Than Writers(!). When I worked as an academic, we had a whole range of data at our fingertips to measure the impact of our work. The number of times a research paper had been read, the number of times it was cited by other authors, and so on. The writer’s equivalent of the number of goals scored, perhaps. I will be able to see how many people have read this blog, or engaged with the content in the comments, but as a Christian writer, we seldom know exactly what difference we’ve made.

Thankfully, like my football teammates, God doesn’t require us all to emulate Ronaldo or Beckham, even if that would be nice now and again. It is enough that we keep showing up with all our imperfections. What does he require of us? I am reassured that we are told to simply ‘do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with [him].’ (Micah 6:8, NRSV) I wonder what that looks like in your writing life this week?

  Helen Hewitt is a baker, gardener, writer and maker. She lives in southwest London with  

  her husband and two young daughters. Formerly a doctor and clinical academic, she now 

  runs a social enterprise, combining a microbakery and community gardening project 

  (@nourishandgrow_food). Helen is a member of the Community of Hopeweavers. 

You can find more of Helen's writing at https://warpandweft.substack.com/