WILLIAM Webb Ellis wasavicar in Essex.

Yes, William Webb Ellis, the boy who famously picked u p the ball in a football match and instantly invented rugby.

The game has got rather famous.

It is all over our television screens at the moment.

Well, he grew up and became a vicar, and by so doing gave his life for the communities in which he lived. This is what vicars do.

William Webb Ellis is remembered forasingle thing that defined him.

There can only ever be one William Webb Ellis.

But each of us has a life that is unique and no one else can live it for us.

“What are you doing with your life?” is a question well worth asking whatever your age.

Some of us never ask it at all. Many of us ask it too late.

But, as I go about Essex and see great things all around me, I often find myself thinking how much better the world would be if we all worked harder at giving ourselves to each other and our local communities.

Or, to stretch the analogy another way, have we dropped the ball?

The one that says we belong to each other?

That my wellbeing and happiness is tied up with the wellbeing and happiness of my neighbour? That prosperity is a two-way street?

Be it helping an elderly neighbour with the shopping or welcoming refugees fleeing for their lives, let’s make Essex an even greater place where all our communities prosper.

It is a game all of us can play.