大象传媒

From Reverend Sharon Grenham-Thompson, vicar in Milton Keynes:

This morning my daughter Maddie will be starting the second day of her SATS tests. Like many kids, she鈥檚 been pretty stressed at the prospect. And like many parents, I鈥檝e done my best to reassure her, make the revision fun and cajole her into bed at a reasonable time.

In our competitive world we鈥檝e become more and more focussed on individual achievement, and it seems there鈥檚 a ranking for everything - from the richest celebrity, to the biggest Twitter following. As a result, one of our biggest fears seems to be that looming monster 鈥榝ailure鈥�.

Many years ago, at a time of huge personal grief, and suffering from severe depression, I found myself receiving treatment in a psychiatric ward. In the eyes of a success driven world, I was an abject failure, about as low as I could go. A number of friends and even some family deserted me, there were cruel words from others.

But it was during that time of so-called 鈥榝ailure鈥� that I received some of the most beautiful gestures of care - a gift from a fellow patient, a visit from a colleague I didn鈥檛 know very well, the unnecessary kindness of a senior doctor. It was these simple things, from almost strangers, that made me feel less alone.聽 Here were people who didn鈥檛 judge me, didn鈥檛 rank me against others, didn鈥檛 want anything from me, and their acts of humanity broke through the walls I felt surrounded me.

Just this week I read that if you replace 鈥業鈥� with 鈥榳e鈥� then illness becomes wellness; and many of the world鈥檚 faiths advocate community spirit, gentle kindness, and the power of sharing life鈥檚 joys and woes. Sometimes the smallest act can give someone the strength to carry on.

So I鈥檝e reminded my daughter Maddie, as I鈥檝e reminded myself, that although tests may be important in their way, they can鈥檛 possibly recognise all the things that make the world a better place - things like making people laugh, offering quiet support, acts of kindness towards others. These, in my opinion, are the qualifications that really make a difference in life, whatever our age.