My script for BBC Radio 2's Pause For Thought segment on the early breakfast show with Vanessa Feltz. Broadcast live on 27th September 2017.
We can all think of people who’ve unexpectedly inspired or helped us. The very best of these do so without expecting any praise. Angels you could call them.
So often its teachers that step up to the mark, appearing angelic despite the obvious lack of wings or long robe – unless you happen to go to school at Hogwarts!
Now a teacher myself, I often think back to those that taught me and feel incredibly grateful for the effort and care they put in behind the scenes. Ok, I probably didn’t; realise it at the time, but some of the characters that come to mind directly altered the path I pursued – whilst others simply provided funny sayings that still make me smile today. On reflection, my history teacher was right…. Yes, my glasses are ALWAYS filthy!
My husband Oscar, recently travelled to Tanzania to make a documentary about the persecution faced by people living with the genetic condition, albinism. There he met a teacher, Madame Molly - and she’s become a bit of a legend in our house! Though technically a teacher, Molly doesn’t just teach, but acts as a guardian and protector for the children with albinism at her school who are likely to be attacked so their body parts can be used in witch-doctor’s potions. Madame Molly has been a particularly remarkable figure in the life of 15-year-old Festo. Having lost his right arm in an attack, he became understandably traumatized and withdrawn, but also worried about whether he’d be able to continue drawing and painting despite his injuries. Under Molly’s guidance, loving but firm (you wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of her) Festo is now back on track, loved by his classmates and still heralded as the best artist in the school. Amazing.
Madame Molly encapsulates the essence of a verse in Philippians that says we ought ‘not look to our own interests, but to the interest of others’. Be angels.
Heroes like Molly remind us that true goodness can come from the unexpected. Michael Angelo, the famous sculptor, once requested a less than perfect stone for his next creation. The stonemason didn’t want him to have it – it wasn’t a good enough stone in his opinion. Angelo told him: “There’s an angel in there and I can set it free.”