Amongst the many contradictions of life in lockdown there's the current paradox of the people's game restarting without any people watching. "I’m not looking forward to football again / Not missing the beautiful game / My team are unbeaten since I don’t know when / I’m glad to be free of the strain," writes footy poet Paul Cookson. This joyous release from the pressures of 'normal' life has been called 'lockdown relief', and it's one of the paradoxes explored today alongside the ultimate paradox in Jesus's teaching, 'those who lose their life for my sake will find it'. A talk for the Second Sunday after Trinity, 21 June 2020. Find the text to this and all my talks at bit.ly/johndavies-talks.