The passage that I go back to

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

'The passage that I go back to again and again is Luke 2.8-20, the story of the shepherds. When I was a child, everyone wanted to be an angel or Mary in the school play.

But I was Herod, because I was a good reader and could say ‘diligently’! I can still remember my lines 50 years on. I worked in primary schools and every year we did a nativity, so the story of the shepherds is embedded in my working life.

The shepherds were terrified, but that didn’t stop them doing what they were supposed to do. They weren’t looking for God. They were at work. I’ve held onto that throughout my life.

I think you don’t have to be in the path of God and angels. He is where you are. I don’t know for sure, but I think I’ve experienced an angel’s help. I live in rural Dorset and there’s a particularly notorious road where many accidents happen.

One day, about 15 years ago, I was taking a group of students out for something like tag rugby. When the coach driver arrived, the children hadn’t turned up, so I sent him off to do another route before picking us up later. There was a fatality on the road. If he had picked us up when we were meant to leave, we would have been in that crash with 52 children on board.

The coach driver and I were really shaken. He said, ‘We were lucky.’ I said, ‘I think I had the angels with me today.’ He said, ‘I think you are right.’ As we got off the coach he said, ‘Can I borrow your angels? I’d like them with me tomorrow.’ Every time I drive along that road, I remember the girl who died. I’ve known the help of angels in my own life. We don’t just need them at Christmas, we need them all the time.'

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