Pilgrim Soldier

Last night I watched a programme on Channel 4 called My Street which was a documentary in the Cutting It series. The narrator decided to knock on the door of every house in her street and, for those who were happy to, she interviewed them on camera.

The programme was absolutely fascinating! Firstly, it was a wonderful insight into the lives of various different people, ranging from millionaires through to a young Tourette’s sufferer on benefit, from 66 different children through to a 93 year old man. Secondly, it presents a real challenge to us all.

Here was a woman who had lived in her street for 14 years and had never got to know her neighbours. It was only when she started to knock on doors that she discovered there were some real problems that some people faced; that amongst these 116 houses in her street there were people suffering from deep depression, loneliness, cancer, mental illness, to name just some.

In my street there are around 30 houses and so far I’ve had regular contact with 4 of the people. Of those I haven’t talked to is the Asian man who in the warmer weather sits out on his wall, the new mother a few doors down, and others whose faces I don’t even know! What about yours?