the choice to let it go through to the keeper

It's also worth noting what we - as a culture and as The Church - let past the keeper.

Sexual assault? Infidelity? DV? How much protest have players-from-the-faith made regarding their team-mates accused and found guilty of such?

When Christians get picky about what aspects of faithful adherence we're going to support, we betray the character of God - and not in a "reveals" kind of way.

In a way, Christians taking a stand "against Pride" is as much showing off as the NRL putting pride stripes on their jerseys for inclusiveness. And it begs the question: do we really care about standards of godliness? Or just about our public stance on particular issues?

It is, in fact, a very confronting thing to realise that I could never lift a finger to help the needy or lonely or struggling again, and it would not change my state of grace.

BUT. It would change my brain chemistry, the part of me that learns to do new things by doing things, that learns possibilities by making mistakes, that goes out and tries harder, leans out and hopes not to overbalance.

never-married and church culture

Having feelings today.

Sometimes I feel piteously grateful that the women at church include me in anything. It's a good church with good people, but the truth is that in modern Christianity a never-married woman in her mid-40s is more likely to be considered a threat and liability than a friend.

Married couples with kids? No problem.

Women whose husbands are dead or left? All good.

But an unmarried woman tends to get left off the invite list. 

I imagine the reasons vary from "Who would we pair her with?" to "What if she takes a fancy to someone's husband?" And if they've been taught the 'women are walking temptations which men cannot resist, and always willing and interested in a man' beliefs of 90s Christian dating, attraction, and sexuality advice, then good luck to her around any couple where the wife isn't 100% sure of her husband.

I like people. People include men. It includes married men. There are guys I count as friends and guys I'd like to count as friends. (They're interesting people; I always like befriending interesting people.) Doing either is painfully fraught with a lot of gender schtick - not the risk that I'll do something or he'll do something, but that people will smear either of our reputations.