´óÏó´«Ã½

From Dave Tomlinson, writer and vicar at large:

The best thing about January for me is the return of ‘Call the Midwife’. I am a complete sucker for it – nostalgia for the era of my youth, of course, but more than that: I love the tenacious humanity of the nuns’ religion, the subversively hard-hitting storylines smartly nestled amid moving scenes of babies being delivered and gentle tales of east London in the Sixties.

I do need a bit of cheer in January. Sunny, wintery days can be wonderful; it’s the wall-to-wall greyness that often surrounds them that I struggle with, especially when that mirrors a mood of gloom about things I wish were different in my life or in the world.

Which is why I turn to the words of Albert Camus, the French philosopher who wrote: ‘In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.’

Nowhere have I seen this more clearly exhibited than in the life of Richard, a man with advanced motor neurone disease who I visited every week when I arrived in my last parish. At the start, the visits filled me with despair. I think I felt a need to bring something inspiring or profound to help Richard in some way. But my words and prayers seemed hollow and meaningless.

As it turned out, of course, Richard didn’t expect me to bring anything profound or clever; he simply wanted my presence. And eventually, I realised that our times together were as much for my sake as his. Initially, all I offered was a pair of anxious eyes. But then I recognised in his eyes a peaceful twinkle that said something like, ‘I may be in the grip of this disease, but this is not who I am!’ As Camus indicates, no matter how difficult his plight, inside Richard was something stronger and better pushing right back.’

January isn’t my favourite month, but through the grey days I resolve to remember Richard and his invincible inner summer. I’ll also take some cheer from the midwives of Poplar.