From The Manse Window

From the manse window

WE have a new lollipop lady,” six-year-old Kyle said as I saw him playing in the garden next door. “Mum says she’s just like a lighthouse.”

“Like a lighthouse?” I queried, amused. “Do you mean she’s tall and slim?”

“No. Mum says that she’s like a lighthouse because she keeps us away from danger and sends us safely home.”

That misunderstanding kept me smiling for a long time, but also reminded me of a visit I’d paid some years ago to the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses based at Kinnaird Head Lighthouse, the first to be built in Scotland.

The concept of lighthouses has been around for centuries. At first their main purpose was to guide ships into port, rather than warn them away from hazards.

In Britain, lighthouses didn’t begin to appear in their modern form until the turn of the 18th century, and it’s here that Scotland does have a claim to fame, for it was Scottish engineer Robert Stevenson who became a pivotal figure in their development.

It’s to Stevenson we owe thanks, not just for greatly improving the magnification of the light, but for the rotating and shuttering system that was able to give individual lighthouses their own identity.

Remembering how much I’d enjoyed my visit to the museum made my thoughts turn to all those who make our world a better and safer place.

Sometimes it’s simply the words or the example of others that can make the most impact.

Parents and guardians may play a formative role, but it’s not just them who can set us on the right path through life.

My friend, Anna, was faced with a dilemma when she left school.

Coming from a large family with limited means, she didn’t even think of the possibility of further education, but fell into the first job that would bring in a wage.

As she said herself, she might have stayed there for years had not one of her teachers taken an interest.

“Miss Smith suggested I gain qualifications by attending evening courses,” Anna told me. “It wasn’t an easy decision, for I could think of plenty of more exciting ways to spend my free time.

“But if she hadn’t pointed the way for me, I’d never have ended up having such a rewarding career as a teacher myself!”

I also think of another youngster who was given a second chance after being caught pilfering sweets from a corner shop where he had a Saturday job.

“The manager could have sacked me, but decided not to,” John said. “I still keep in touch, and he always teases me about the fact that I went on to become a probation officer!”

Neither of those examples are as dramatic as averting a shipwreck or saving a child, but it does show that even something as small as giving advice or showing faith in a person can make a difference. ■

Next week: Janice Ross shows that no act of kindness is ever wasted.