The John Griff Column: When joining the dots is more than a game...

Take a look at ANY news reporting right now and we seem as far from a season of goodwill (or jollification) as mankind has been since World War 2, if ever. Admittedly, there are small, starry points of light in the night sky of global news – but they are few, far between and often obscured.

This week has seen the gruesome reporting of events in Palestine, heartbreakingly updated stories of the slaughter of young people attending the music festival in Israel which prompted the current war there, desperate fears voiced over the state of the invasion of Ukraine by the forces of Vladimir Putin and, on a related point, a global question mark over the disappearance of Putin’s closest rival to the Kremlin as the forthcoming elections there draw closer. In sport there are stories relating to the punching of a referee at a football game in Turkey, speculative media pieces suggesting wrongdoing at the highest levels of global motorsport management, and, closer to home, discrediting stories about elected and senior officials here in the county. The damage is already done, regardless of the investigations now underway and for an example of the same, take a look at the current Covid enquiry. Strenuously declaring that it has not been set up to apportion blame, blame is being apportioned all the same, rightly or wrongly, in the media.

So what is the remedy for this apparently crushing tsunami of misery spreading – or apparently spread already across the faith of the planet? Perhaps it is to be found in looking back on more peaceful times with a renewed desire to return to them. Perhaps it is to look within our own circle of family and friends – wherever they might be – and see good in our midst. Or maybe it is to look upon those very small starry points and somehow try to join them, so that their presence is made clearer, less obscured and just a little more hopeful. But how to do that?

If you are a regular reader of this column, you will know that I am inclined to quote old proverbs or sayings. The reason is simple – such sayings are usually borne out of reality, containing sage-like wisdom in a single sentence. The other reason is that when quoted, I am pointing to something which many others have said, whether they have considered that wisdom or not. They are the soundbites of perhaps a bygone age – so their wisdom actually grows with use over time. As I get older, more of these pearls unveil themselves, so when it is said that the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step (being an old Chinese proverb), the truth is there for all to see. It’s obvious, isn’t it? It’s common sense. But why do we so often ignore such wisdom?

Many who do not enter the National Lottery say that it’s because they have no chance of winning. Others, who say that they don’t vote in the General Election say that they don’t turn out because ‘It won’t make any difference’, or that ‘They’re all as bad as each other’, and ‘What’s the point? How is my vote going to change anything?’. Really? Try saying that to the descendants of Emmeline Pankhurst, William Wilberforce or any other individual who, step by step, traversed a journey to making lasting positive change for future generations.

A couple of weeks ago there was a night of celebration with the Annual Northamptonshire Community Foundation awards, held at the Royal Theatre. For the purposes of full disclosure, I am an Ambassador of the foundation, having previously served time there as a Trustee. The foundation supports community groups with funding from a variety of benefactors and philanthropists (there’s a good news story there alone), to enable them to go about bringing positive change within the county. As such, it is a terminal conduit through which hundreds of journeys are assisted, step by step, day by day. From past experience I think it is true to say that the people running the groups generally don’t claim the spotlight for their actions – whatever their original compunction, they are motivated to just keep going with each successive step along the pathways that they are creating and, however consciously, inviting others to join them on. The awards bring recognition of achievement, a pat on the back and heartfelt encouragement from all in the auditorium to ‘carry on carrying on’. The positivity which develops for the groups and the people being recognised radiates out – after which, recharged, the attending audience itself has an opportunity to take it and use it to contribute to the wider community, in turn. This year, one particular story stood out for me.

Re:Store Northampton is an organisation originally set up by the Central Vineyard Church in 2009. Delivering a variety of projects with the aim of ‘Building relationships to restore lives, renew hope and move from crisis to community’, one such is their allotment scheme, which, through bringing people with often broken or shattered backgrounds together, allows them to grow as their veg does. The parallel tending of the individual through their input into the allotment wasn’t lost on me when, in video testimony, one man spoke of his journey back to working with people. Emotionally unable to interact with them directly but encouraged to physically work alongside them, his own journey was clear to see. Even though he couldn’t and didn’t look into the dead eye of the camera lens, he communicated so much in a few short, halting sentences.

The ripple effect of such work is clear. Many companies now encourage their employees to do voluntary work, rather than simply writing a cheque and calling it Corporate Social Responsibility. The work isn’t obligatory and is an investment by people in people for the greater good. As such, everybody involved is on a journey of positivity, step by step. Which brings me to a proverb with the power to help – hopefully – join those distant starry points of light into something brighter.

If it’s to be, it’s got to be me.