Richard Littledale
Richard Littledale
radio microphone
BBC Radio 2Sarah Kennedy Show
Pause for Thought
Richard Littledale: Series 8, Number 2
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Friday 3 April 2009

I am not what you would call God's gift to the sporting world. When people used to pick teams at school, it was the person who lost the toss who landed up with me on their side. I reckon that when God was handing out fleetness of foot and strength of arm I must have been looking the other way. This all goes to show that God must have a particular sense of humour in directing me to serve as a minister here in Teddington, in Middlesex. With the beautiful Bushy Park at its heart, the town is a magnet for runners. For many years, elite middle distance runners from all over the world have come here to train. Sometimes in the Summer months there are up to 70 Kenyan athletes here in the town, gliding effortlessly down the road and making me feel unfit by comparison.

All of this means that I am definitely not a regular visitor to the town's sports shops. However, when I saw the following notice I just had to stop and look. In fact, I not only stopped to look, but I went back the next day armed with my camera. There it was on the window, a big full colour message advertising "buy two socks, get one free". Unless Jake the peg is making a comeback, or they are about to make the three-legged race an Olympic event - it seemed like an odd offer. I'm sure it was referring to pairs of socks, but that's not what it said.

Sometimes we are so close to a message that we just can't see it. I spend most of my working day communicating the same message over and over again. In the church, the office, the school or the hospital ward I make it my business to tell people God loves them. My life is an endless pursuit to say the same thing in different ways. But do I live so close to the message that I can't see it - that's the question?

Perhaps I'm like the person who lives in a beautiful cottage with a spectacular view who can't see it because they live with it all the time. Or perhaps I'm like the person in the sports shop - seeing the words but not seeing how they might be read.

I believe God does love us - even those of us with two left feet, like me. In fact, he probably loves the ones with three left feet too- and if they need some socks I know just where to buy them.

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© BBC 2009
This talk by Richard Littledale was first broadcast as BBC Radio 2's
breakfast time "Pause for Thought" during the Sarah Kennedy show.
It is reproduced here by permission of the BBC.