Sunday's 60 second sermon

Sunday saw my earliest start so far, as I was at Surrey Sports Park before 7:30am in order to find a quiet spot with good mobile phone reception so that BBC Radio Surrey could ring me.  Having been into their studio on Tuesday to record a "60 second sermon", the plan was for them to ring to chat live on air shortly before they broadcast the sermon so that it can be put into context.  We had a good conversation, not just about sports chaplaincy but about chaplaincy in general.  This added background, not just to the "60 second sermon" but to the interview I'd done in week 1 for their breakfast programme.  Must admit though, that I don't often get asked to discuss existentialism before 8am on a Sunday morning!!  (For the inquisitive, this came about because in talking about some of the things sports chaplains get involved in, I made the comment that we're not just here for the bad things of life like injury or coping with lack of success but also for things like the big questions of life such as "who am I when I'm no longer a famous athlete?" which was a question I'd spent some time discussing with an athlete at one of the previous major sports events I've ministered at.)
Being at the venue that bit earlier meant that I saw lots of players as they were on their way to breakfast and/or their morning sessions in the swimming pool, which was good.  I then opened up the Oasis of Silence at 8am, but as no-one came to the 8:30am devotional I didn't get to 'preach' the aforementioned 'sermon'.
The rest of the morning was divided between the usual 'wandering around' the venue and various practical matters related to tonight's movie night - firstly being given a much more central room than the one we had last night, which was a matter for thanksgiving; then altering all the publicity we'd produced yesterday; before spending time learning how to connect everything up to, and then operate, the rather splendid audio-visual system they have installed (much more complicated - and impressive - than anything I've personally used before).
I managed to take a couple of hours off in the afternoon, and returned to find that it was very very quiet - even quieter than previous post-match days.  A number of squads had gone out for all or part of the day, and I think others must have been sheltering from the torrential rain that descended mid-afternoon.
Some more visiting and admin was undertaken before setting up for the movie night.  It was good that a good group of players came, from 3 different squads, all of whom thanked us for putting this on even before they'd seen the movie.  It was a very good humoured and relaxed evening, with the added bonus for me that I really enjoyed the movie too, which made a day with my earliest start and latest finish not seem as long as it actually was.