Hello,
We’d been chatting about a dog that had come into her life. Her life had been a bit up and down since leaving LandWorks, and this small (clearly adorable) sentient being was life changing.
“Chris, do you believe in Jesus?”
Oh. Bit unexpected, and it made me think. A lot.
I have met several people who have described their last, no-point-of-return moments of leaving life. As the knotted sheets or flex tightened suddenly the cell, the room, or their soul, was filled with a brilliant, dazzling light. They lived, and life was different.
But I have also known too many people for whom the knot just tightened, or the medicine was too strong.
More recently, we have been working with a man who has just entered recovery. Following the Twelve Steps is as hard as it is hopeful. His initial reluctance was rooted in the belief that he needed to believe in God to follow the programme. As his despair grew, and after one massive drug blow-out, something changed. He felt able to accept a higher power, in the memory of his mother (who died when he was 18). She came to him as a bird and sat with him in the garden as the drug withdrew.
I am often haunted by a lyric from The Clash’s The Sound of Sinners:
“The message on the tablets/ Was Valium.”
I guess this question around belief and faith is ever-present (one of our guys recently changed his name to give himself the initials G.O.D.).
Twelve years ago (when LandWorks began), I didn’t really appreciate ‘hope’. I was, very arrogantly, and I think naively, optimistic. I just assumed everything would be okay.
Well, that has changed. Big time. I now have great respect for hope and its importance.
To be honest, I’m not sure I really understood community back then either (like I say, a bit arrogant). But that has changed as well.
The LandWorks ‘community’ has created its own power. It’s able to support, inspire, reassure, guide—and yes, absolutely, provide hope to those who need it.
It’s the communal part that is key: from people just joining, to those who are such amazing examples of transforming life for the better. It represents something that is good.
So, back to the question.
I think I believe in people and community… which may or may not be an answer.
But I now definitely (this has changed too) believe in the power of a dog.
(No anagrams.)
Chris
25th September 2025