Religion is People

It seems for most of us, it's harder to have faith in people than it is to assume the worst. I must be a bit of a weird one in that I am often blown away by human actions for good reasons, far more often than I am by bad.

Ok, so he wasn't dressed like this - but still

For example, I think I found Santa! My partner and I were on the overground on our way to support a friend at his comedy gig, and a child was tired and crying. It didn't matter what her dad tried to do to make her stop, she kept crying. A man sat nearby had clearly just been Christmas shopping and was laden with gifts. He reached into his bag and pulled out a teddy bear. He gave it to the dad to calm the child down and lo and behold, it worked.

The tube stopped a few stops down the line and the father and daughter turned to get off the train. The dad reached out to the man to give him back his teddy bear and the man simply said, 'no, don't worry, keep it'. What a lovely man! It was certainly an easy way to cheer up an entire carriage. As I looked around everyone in the train was smiling having just witnessed a very natural and spontaneous act of kindness. It was definitely Santa in disguise!

Alan Turing

I find it quite hard to explain even to my partner how much people inspire me. I honestly think they are amazing. Having just seen 'The Imitation Game' and seeing how much Alan Turing achieved, even though he found it hard to make friends and was labelled an odd ball, really got to me. As I tried to explain why I have so much faith in people, I found I couldn't even finish my sentence. I was crying. And that is why I cannot explain why people amaze me so much, because it is so overpowering that there just aren't words to express it. 

Others say such faith is naive, but I disagree. I think it's wonderful. I don't follow a religion but if I had to choose one, my religion would be people. Call it what you like, but take some time to look around this Christmas. There are lots of horrible things happening in the world but people, even amidst a world of suffering, can be wonderful. For example, my 88yr old grandmother had her purse stolen from her bag this week, and the thief ran off with an old lady's pension money she was hoping to spend on looking nice at her grandson's wedding. At this point, yes, people suck. Then comes a young policeman who's duty was to take down what happened. He didn't stop there though. He walked arm in arm with my grandmother to the post office to cancel her card before ensuring that an elderly lady was escorted home in a police car in case she was shaken up by what had happened. That last bit, is not in his job description, but he did it anyway, because he really cared about my grandmother getting home safe. At this point, people are great!

So, like I say, look around this Christmas, maybe you'll find yourself being wonderful too!

Merry Christmas!