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Good morning.

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What an intriguing, perplexing and exciting football season it continues to be in the English Premiership: with the neutrals cheering on the underdogs, and every game having significance to some club - at the top or bottom of the League.

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I blame my Granpa! He got me started.Ìý Took me to a well-known Glasgow venue where they play in blue – and introduced me to the sheer joy of watching the beautiful game.

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And it stuck; stayed with me the rest of my life: Ah, the importance of profound early influences.Ìý Indeed, one of my first dates with the lady who was to become my wife,

was to go to Easter Road to watch Dundee play Hibs… in those days, any game would do!Ìý

The fact that she came to the match at all was an earnest of her wish to reel me in!! She truly must have loved me! ÌýIt was a loyalty that took her to Starks Park Kirkcaldy on a cold Saturday, for a cup match….and a deep fried pie! Yes, this is a man who knows how to treat a lady!

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And then I passed it on to my children…Ìý one now a player: Ìýone a season-ticket holder at Tynecastle…Ìý And so it goes on…from generation to generation – a love for that beautiful game - seeded, encouraged, supported and shared.

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If only it were that easy to pass on the things of faith!

And what a big responsibility lies with those who break the chain of faith…become the first and only generation to cut that link with the church their parents, grandparents and great grandparents have worshipped in and come to love.. the stories and the songs. ÌýAnd how hard to reconnect new generations with that, once the connection has been broken!

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Lord thank you for the people who passed on the ancient truths, the richness of faith to us. Help us figure out how to keep that faith alive for new generations.Ìý Amen.