Do you love a good story?

'What are you giggling for?' hissed my sister, whilst trying to shove another slightly melted chocolate into my unresisting hand. 'That one on the left looks like he's got gold disco pants on ..' I whispered back between chortles, 'must have been really hot wearing spandex in Egypt ....' We both sniggered and returned to our viewing on the big screen.

'Huff.' from my right this time; my mum's turn to start muttering, 'Burning bush from God? Looks more like a damp squib to me! In my head that burning bush was so big, bright, so fixating, it's the key moment in the story, or at least that's what we were taught at Sunday School..' Cue more sniggering from my sister and I - well, my mum talking about burning bushes, I ask you.

And then it struck me; this film which I was enjoying as an epic winter-Sunday-afternoon-with-my-family type experience, sort of another Lord of the Rings, with lots of walking up and down mountains, fighting and grubby clothes was actually a story from the Old Testament - Moses. For millions of people, including my mum, it is of religious importance and deserves respect, not chocolate and sniggers. But does Christian Bale look like the Moses in my mind? No. Do any of the Egyptians look more Egyptian than those in 'Carry on Cleo'? Not really. But is it fair to judge a film against the pictures we have in our own heads after hearing or reading a story? Perhaps those images we create for ourselves are more powerful and ultimately more enduring.

Stories are important; whether they are spiritual, factual, novels or even family stories passed down generations. As a teenager I got a bit fixated on Gothic horror stories, fell in love with naughty old Lord Byron and longed for a vampire. I felt they reflected my Goth look of black eyeliner and black, well, black everything really, along with my keen interest in mystic runes, tarot cards and angels. Even now, when reading a book or listening to song lyrics, I can see everything so clearly in my head, in the same way I was able to see Heathcliffe (Year 9 crush) striding about the moor, Tess walking to her doom away from Angel Clare (read the book five times after a bad breakup) and cried again and again listening to the words of 'Letter to Hermione' by David Bowie (forever crush), imagining the pain of love lost laid bare through his lyrics.

Now I know the old saying about never meeting your hero for fear of disappointment, but I'm not sure it doesn't go for most films too, as in never see the film of a book you know and love well. Imagination is a powerful thing, characters in books can become friends, teachers and even role models, something to be especially nurtured in children and young people, but imagination is prone to easy disappointment. You spend the first half of a book on the silver screen trying to reconcile the actors to the images you have in your head, and the second half irritated or confused by the things that got left out. I know there are definitely exceptions to that rule, Harry Potter (for me) being the biggest one; I love the books, I love the films that seem to bring them to life. But do you know anyone really looking forward to seeing 50 Shades? No, I thought not. I rest my case.  

So, let's encourage imagination and the art of reading or listening to words and creating your own images to go with them. These are precious personal things that can take you away from the everyday in a way that nothing else can. In a world where even computer games look real and we are bombarded with graphic images 24/7, everything laid out like delicacies on a plate to be seen and absorbed, let's not forget the power of our own minds to create and inspire. Through the simplest of stories we can be transported to other times, places and lives, and our imaginations supply a free visual track to run alongside the words.

Let's try to quieten down some of the outside stimulus, just for a while, and encourage children and young people to let their imagination run free, as they appreciate the art of storytelling. We can learn empathy, acceptance and tolerance through stories, as well as history, culture and faith, we can see how the characters we care about cope with love, loss and betrayal and understand that life can be tough as well as joyous. Images created in your head can last a life time. My mum was six when she first heard the Moses story, sitting in a bombed out church hall in East London, yet over fifty years later it is this picture by which she judges the cinematic extravaganza we watch in a modern multiplex. A picture of a mighty burning bush; inspired by the storyteller, but created by herself.

Imagination - powerful stuff eh?