John Pritchard says: “The problem is that we all leak. The image of a football in the corner of my study tells the same story. Because it has a puncture it is partly deflated and therefore whenever it is kicked its shape is distorted: if it were punted down the field it would sink to the ground without a bounce. If the puncture were to be repaired, however, and new air blown into it, the football would resist the kicks and be full of bounce. It would be what it’s meant to be. In the same way, Christians, full of the Spirit, would become the followers Christ invites them to be. Of course, this is the ideal; we are all punctured to some degree or other, but ‘fresh air’ is always available.”

John Pritchard, Living Faithfully, 2013, SPCK London, p.13

John Pritchard says: “The problem is that we all leak. The image of a football in the corner of my study tells the same story. Because it has a puncture it is partly deflated and therefore whenever it is kicked its shape is distorted: if it were punted down the field it would sink to the ground without a bounce. If the puncture were to be repaired, however, and new air blown into it, the football would resist the kicks and be full of bounce. It would be what it’s meant to be. In the same way, Christians, full of the Spirit, would become the followers Christ invites them to be. Of course, this is the ideal; we are all punctured to some degree or other, but ‘fresh air’ is always available.”

John Pritchard, Living Faithfully, 2013, SPCK London, p.13