On the disappearance of cash and what money can, and cannot, measure. Standing in a slow-moving supermarket queue this week, everyone was getting a little impatient. The customer being served was having trouble paying for her shopping. Very slowly she was drawing from her purse round bits of metal and…

When there’s no substitute for the body language of presence. I travelled back in time last week. A friend texted from New York and asked me to send best wishes to another friend — let’s call him Jack. The text landed on me like a punch because Jack died last…

The easter revolution will not be televised. It is not captured on CCTV because it is captured in the heart It is not a big event in history. (It is too big for history. And also too small.) The easter revolution is a beautiful disguise. It is brought to you by…

‘I don’t want your apology, I want you to be sorry.’ ‘I would like to apologise. In fact everybody would like to apologise. Sports stars, newspapers, politicians… barely a day passes without another public figure offering their apologies. Mistakes were made. In hindsight we shouldn’t have done that. I apologise. …

‘More life into a time without boundaries.’ On reimagining the ancient notion of blessing. It was as I walked out of the cafe, warm mug in my hand, that she said it: ‘May goodness find you in 2022…’ The phrase struck me as it landed, richer words than the usual ‘have a good one’ or ‘see you…

‘Under a blood-red sky A crowd has gathered in black and white Arms entwined, the chosen few The newspaper says… it’s true, it’s true…’ U2’s ‘New Year’s Day’, released in January 1983, finding hope in the story of Polish trade union’s Solidarity movement. Finding hope ever since. I must have…

Finding creativity and consolation in the world’s ‘store of silence and stillness’ My day begins in silence. I sit quietly with several hundred other people as our host welcomes us to what she calls our ‘sacred space.’ We are all over the world, all on our screens and Zoom is…

New rules for living in the hybrid life of post-lockdown world. Good Morning. Someone shook my hand this week. It was awkward. It happened so quickly — I was too late to turn it into a fist bump or nimbly pirhouette and brush them with an elbow instead. We were…

On how our descendants are willing us to repent and do the right thing. Good morning. Although we’re now in late-stage lockdown, our restricted lives have introduced some new habits that will endure. In our house we started getting milk, in bottles, on the doorstep — taking me back to…