Thought for the Week

I THINK music must be one of the most evocative ways of tapping into our memories. Certain pieces of music can transport us to a time and place of years gone by and we can instantly feel a part of our past become a transient moment of our present.

Being of a certain age, it is the music of the sixties that takes me back to very happy teenage years and I find that I can sing along with all the words.

Memories flood back and, with nostalgia, I wonder where all these decades have gone with so much in between.

One of my favourite TV programmes is Call The Midwife.

The music of my younger days permeates throughout it and, as a Glasgow youngster, I can relate to so much about the way of life at that time.

Midwife has everything – humour, pathos, tenderness, sadness, compassion and so much more.

There are moments that touch the heart as the lives of the characters intertwine.

One such moment was when Fred, who is the odd-job man at the midwives’ house, sat with Sister Monica Joan, who was terrified at the prospect of her cataract operation.

Sister Monica Joan can become very confused and distressed, and this lovely, gentle man got through to her in a way that no-one else could.

His love was stronger than medical advice, and his patience and tenderness gave her the strength she needed to face her demons.

Fred had no training in how to deal with such situations, no online courses, no experts to teach him.

He just dug deep in his heart and found the love God had put there – and he shared it.