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Good morning. When I first moved to Merthyr Tydfil one of the things that surprised me most, apart from the staggering natural beauty of the place, was the fact that all the statues in the town centre seem to be of famous boxers. Merthyr’s been home to several, including the champion Howard Winstone, known in his day as the ‘Welsh Wizard’. And there’s something I find particularly striking about his statue: it shows him, not poised, mid match, ready to land a punch, but sitting down, gloves off, looking ahead and almost as if he’s in deep contemplation. 
All of Merthyr’s celebrated boxers came from poor working-class backgrounds at a time and place that afforded few opportunities, and through their sheer grit and determination they fought—literally—to get ahead in life.
Boxing’s literal struggle has through the ages provided a powerful metaphor. Today, for example, we speak about the ‘fight against Covid-19’. Even the Bible uses it: in the first century AD St Paul says, ‘So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air’.
Saint Paul and those Merthyr boxers don’t just give us an example of hard work, I think they also give a message of hope: ‘keep giving your best, don’t lose heart, don’t give up’, they seem to say, whatever the fight, be it personal or a big team effort, keep at it. 
Towards the end of his life, St Paul was able to write ‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race’, not in a self-congratulatory manner, but the knowledge that he’d given his very best to his mission gave him peace and contentment. I wonder if perhaps that’s the same look you can see on the face of Howard Winstone’s statue?
Lord God, strengthen our hearts when our work is hard, come to our aid when we have no one to help us, and, at the end, give us that peace and satisfaction which comes from knowing we have given our very best. Amen.