I’d rather have my faith and my relationship with Jesus and come second than have gold. . . I think, for me, the church and the people in it, and the Bible and my relationship with my faith — that has most of the answers, if not all of them

Adam Peaty, British Olympic swimmer, interview in The Times, 14 August

I credit all that I do to God. He’s given me a gift, he’s given me a drive to want to continue to improve upon myself. . . Whenever I step upon the track, it’s always the prayer “let me be the vessel in which you’re glorified.” Whatever the result is, how I conduct myself, how I carry myself, not just how I perform. So it’s freedom in knowing that, regardless of what happens, he’s going to get the praise through me. That’s why I do what I do

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, American athlete, speaking at a press conference after winning gold in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Paris Olympics, 9 August

Few of us will ever be Olympians, but, in giving their all, the Olympic athletes have shone with a passion that transcends the partisan bounds of nationality and revealed the glory of the Games

Rachel Mann, Archdeacon of Bolton and Salford, Thought for the Day, Radio 4, 12 August

The [church] buildings don’t preach at you in a way that you have to submit to. You can be in a building and you can make of it what you can and what you want to. I think they’re very inclusive, actually, once you cross the threshold

Andrew Rumsey, Bishop of Ramsbury and co-lead bishop for church buildings, The David Watson Podcast, 4 August (listen here)

It is easy to shudder at the global tour being made of the fragment of Carlo Acutis’s heart (and indeed the display of his body, in jeans and trainers). But maybe our age of 3D printing and virtual reality feeds a revived hunger for solidity. Objects can speak deeply to the universal consolation of feeling part of long humanity, accepting our smallness, finding protection in knowing how gallantly others won or lost. Lockets of a beloved’s hair are more than souvenirs

Libby Purves, The Times, 12 August

If we want armed forces that can defend us and keep the forces of our strategic enemies at bay, they need to have weapons. They need to be able to shoot further and faster and with better targeting than their enemies, and that means that they need companies developing these weapons in safe countries from whom to buy this ordinance. And the Church knows this

Marcus Walker, priest and writer, The Critic, 9 August

The Church’s teaching on homosexuality has been gradually changing in recent years — it now feels that it should be affirmed within certain limits, and that a diversity of views should be allowed. In a sense, its official teaching on homosexuality is now agnosticism — it isn’t sure either way. Of course, this sounds muddled and cowardly, but maybe it is the brave and difficult option

Theo Hobson, The Spectator website, 13 August

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