Season’s Greetings!
What a year it’s been, a year full of expectation, a year full of highs and the occasional low!
One of the biggest highs I have had being a West Ham supporter was obviously our European win.
I watched the final in a pub with some mates; what a night and what an achievement, well done to everyone at the Club, it was a night to remember.
In football, along with the highs you must have the lows to balance it, and we have all experienced some of them over the year.
I think the wins and losses of football are bit like life, as we all have highs and lows in our life, don’t we? One minute things are going well for us then we take a turn and we end up in a low point! When times have been tough this year, I have often turned to one of my favourite books, entitled ‘The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse’, by Charlie Mackesy.
Charlie’s words are:
“Their adventures happen in springtime where one moment snow is falling and the sun shines the next, which is also a little bit like life – it can turn on a sixpence.”
Another word that I believe links football with life is HOPE. I’ve been a West Ham fan since birth, and I grew up a stone’s throw from the first-team training ground in Rush Green. Like all West Ham fans, I have dreamt, I have had belief in our team, and I have always had Hope. Hope in so many ways, the word has become built into my WHU DNA!
The Christian Bible says we are all made in the image of God. What does that mean? Does God have brown hair, freckles or blue eyes? I don’t think so, I think maybe it means that God has dreams, belief and HOPE in us, all of us. Just like my dreams, HOPE is part of my WHU DNA. However, God’s hope and belief in me is built into God’s DNA.
I’m sure we can all relate to those words!
I can’t not mention the passing of David Gold back at the beginning of the year. I had met David several times and he was always a lovely person to be around He always asked how I was doing; he cared for people. I had the privilege of spending time with his family after his passing, a family grieving the loss of two family loved ones following the passing of David’s daughter Jacqueline. It was an honour to be with this beautiful family and my prayers are with them all this Christmas.
Whatever you are doing for Christmas, whether you celebrate Christmas or it’s just an excuse to eat too much and spend time with friends and family, I wish you have a blessed one. I hope that 2024 fills you all with HOPE and I pray that Gods belief and HOPE in you comes true.
Have a great Christmas and New Year.
COYI.
Rev. Philip Wright
Club Chaplain
