People are capable of great things, if we let them.

I am reading the biography of one of our local characters at the moment and have been both impressed and surprised by all he has achieved. He has also turned out have something of an unexpected history.

People do the most unexpected things – in my two and a half years as vicar in this area, I have been surprised by various acts of thoughtfulness and help: the owner of ‘Cranberries’ who dropped everything to rescue me when my bike ran out of petrol, the bikers who made sure a village was pristine when they came for a mate’s funeral, the Dalwood pub owner who put, unasked, a plate of food in front of me after a particularly long day and said ‘I thought you could use this’.

All unexpected, but as I’ve got to know these people entirely in character – people are capable of great things, if we let them.