Morning Thought
Beyond the Call of Duty
28th August 2007
BBC Radio Wiltshire
www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire
Every weekday during the Early Show (5am to 7am) on BBC Radio Swindon and Wiltshire, we hear various community members, who air a thought about life in general and provide us all with an inspiration to reflect on what has been said. A subject that is always dear to our hearts and topical, the British weather. Following an usually dry August Bank holiday weekend, typically stereotyped with damp, unseasonal weather, added to a summer of relentless downpours, resulting in many flash floods and countless families having their property and processions destroyed. We witness time and time again the 'British spirit' and the way the country pulls together during these dreadful times and the way many try to keep a smile during travesty.

Lyneham was very fortunate that we did not experience the levels of water as our neighbouring counties, but we were inspired by the 'Morning Thought' aired this morning reflecting on these bad times, the way people pulled together and the unsung heroes that help those in trouble going unnoticed. The 'Morning Thought', written and delightfully read by Mrs Chrysogon Bamber, who modestly denies the Wiltshire Sound accolade as Vice Warden of Readers in the Salisbury Diocese, which sounds awfully grand and would rather been accredited as just an ordinary parish person, getting on with things, like the majority of us.

We contacted the BBC and asked if we could establish contact with Chrysogon, to see if she would be happy to publish a copy of her inspirational thought and reflection here. Gratefully this contact has been made and we are pleased to reveal the 'Morning Thought' below.

Morning Thought written by Mrs Chrysogon Bamber
For lots of people it’s back to work today! Summer holidays finished, children back to school next week, and the next bank holiday isn’t till Christmas. If you’re squeezing in a few more days, then well done because the sun’s going to shine a little longer.
But I don’t need to tell you that, for many, this has been a disastrous summer.

In Gloucestershire, people are still making do before their houses can be refurbished after the floods in July, having to live in rented accommodation, with relations or friends, or in a caravan. Homes and businesses have been ruined, farmers’ crops destroyed, their land polluted, and their farm buildings damaged.

We had to drive through Gloucestershire shortly after the floods; the worst of the water had disappeared, and everything looked eerily normal. But we knew that there were flooded parts of the city that we couldn’t see, and that the misery deep in the countryside was still there away from immediate view. The media circus was gone, and the attention had changed to something else, but underneath things will never be the same again. 4,000 homes had been affected by the flood water, that’s a lot of people, families, children, grandparents, pets, and those in care or sheltered housing.

There are web sites full of personal stories of the floods, but there’s one where people have recognised and thanked all the countless heroes of those days - ordinary people who really struggled to rescue complete strangers from the water, who gave them shelter, food, water, dry clothes, baths and showers, all the basic things we take for granted.

The words “beyond the call of duty” crop up time and again, especially where young cadets and army personnel worked long, long hours, using their own initiative in taking help to where it was needed. Help emerged from all sorts of unexpected people and new friendships were made.

It demonstrates that actually there’s plenty going on in our communities that is good.

Somehow these personal good news stories don’t make the headlines - it’s only the sad, selfish and grumbling ones that do. So I am heartened by these positive experiences. We are never quite sure how we’re going to react in a crisis, but that overwhelming human desire to survive, and to help others to survive, comes bubbling to the surface when we’re under pressure.

And just as we’re tempted to describe the rain and the floods as “an act of God”, that too is what we saw at work among all those unsung heroes. They probably wouldn’t describe it like that but I can see the basic command “Love your neighbour” being worked out in all those unselfish acts of human kindness. We all say thank you to them. ~ End.

Unsung heroes is very true, especially the way people get on in difficult times, and the way the community pulls together as a family. This community bonding was particularly evident in Lyneham a few years ago, when we heard the tragic news about the Hercules aircraft, that was shot down by enemy fire, while on a transit flight in Iraq. The numbness and grief was undesirables as the community attempted to come to terms by the loss of eight Lyneham airmen.

The dust is just starting to settle over this tragedy, and people still reflect the massive loss of life. We get day to day reminders, especially when we see the Royal Air Force gigantic C17 air transporter aircraft visiting RAF Lyneham, knowing they are bringing home more fallen heroes, who have paid the ultimate price serving for their Queen and country.

We should all pull together as unsung heroes, whether in tragic times or everyday life, and keep a better community spirit and help each other. A smile, respect for others and good manners are some starting faculties to a better way of life, because life is so short.