Chris Cole FRSA

Last month I wrote about the findings of a survey which the BBC profiled in their Sunday morning programme the Big Question. It made for depressing reading. However, there is always another side to the coin, and on the other side of despair is hope.

The human spirit is amazing and many people in our great city turn adverse situations around every day. They use adversity as a steppingstone for true hope. People like Sheila Cassidy, who in the 80's turned an awful experience of imprisonment and torture in Chile, into a life that shines with hope and compassion for people in Hospice care at St Lukes, where she was the Medical Director for many years. She turned adversity into a deep love for her fellow man and woman.

In the '60's the hippies got one thing right - the search for love. They just missed the real answer. As my friend John Smith, the motorbike riding Reverend from Australia, said: "During the sixties the church had the greatest opportunity to reach a generation asking the most profound questions of life, but judged the fact that they had long hair and no shoes on their feet and missed a God-given opportunity to instil hope into a seeking generation's heart".

The real values of the Christian faith challenge both legalistic religion and rebellion. The narrow road, the 'Freedom Road' that folk like Martin Luther King encouraged people to walk, is a liberating road to walk on. Hope, purpose, destiny and a worthwhile fight for goodness are all part of that walk. It's not for the faint hearted, but it isn't walked in our own strength either. It's a true spiritual journey of freedom and love.

I have some fond memories of the era, but if I'm brutally frank, the sixties lifestyle was personally devastating with its promotion of sex, drugs and rock and roll.

In the 70's I was getting bitter, but as I faced the problems of my life inwardly IN TRUTH, I found an answer of love outside myself, which literally saved my soul.

In 1981 my life was radically turned around through a profound spiritual experience with Jesus Christ. I honestly believe that I would be dead now if it wasn't for that experience.

The subsequent journey led me to Plymouth Sound in 1983 with the programme 'The Solid Rock of Jesus Christ', (through the remarkable assistance of the late Bob Hussell who was the pioneering force behind this local station), and on to where Cross Rhythms is today with our own Christian radio station. But I needed help to get here.

I love Plymouth. It is a city of great vision with a massive legacy, historically. When the Founding Fathers of America sailed from Plymouth in 1620, only a third of those Christian families survived the ordeal, but their legacy established the foundation for the American democracy. Another example of courageous folk turning adversity into hope.

An American Indian saying goes like this "I complained about having no moccasins, until I met a man with no feet." The wonders and challenges of life's journey either make us bitter or better in my view, depending on how we see life, or in fact, value life.

Take your adversities and turn them to good - you might find a little outside help working with you to get there.

This article was originally published in the Plymouth Shopper, a group of 7 localised community newspapers produced by Cornerstone Vision, reaching 62,000 homes every month in Plymouth. Each edition carries positive news stories and features, and provides local businesses, community groups and organisations with a very localised media platform to reach their own area.