“A dog starved at his master's gate, predicts the ruin of the state”. These lines from William Blake's Auguries of Innocence go beyond the obvious cruelty they describe. They remind us of the destruction which follows when power abdicates responsibility, care and compassion.

“It's aw a muddle, lass. Aw a muddle.” This was the dying lament of Stephen Blackpool, the power-loom operator of Hard Times who was driven to physical and emotional ruin by the ruthless economic and industrial system of his day.

It would be hard to imagine a more marked contrast of societal models than the one currently on display at the top of Ludgate Hill.

Today (15 October) has seen a global day of action against corporate greed, financial mismanagement and government cuts, which has grown out of New York's 'Occupy Wall Street' demonstration.

“Slow down,you move too fast” In the 45 years which have passed since Paul Simon wrote the 59th Street Bridge Song, we have come to move a whole lot faster.

Christians of all denominations have been invited to take part in lighting church beacons on 4 June 2012 to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

Many faith groups have undertaken to read the King James Bible in its entirety during this year of its 400th anniversary. When I was asked by a member of the village church to do a shift in this mammoth undertaking, I will admit to being a little surprised. However, it would have been churlish to refuse, so I presented myself at the appointed time, hoping that smitings and lengthy genealogies would not be my lot.

"The right to speak is a call to the duty of listening." These words of the Quaker writer Pierre Lacout should be placed in letters five feet tall on the walls of all broadcasting studios.

Purity and simplicity are quite rare qualities. When "pure and simple" is used to describe something which is in reality challenging and complex, it often accompanies the desire to mislead or to close down argument.

On the day that Anders Brehing Breivik, driven by hatred of Islam and of his country's political establishment, unleashed death and terror on an unimaginable scale in Oslo and Utoya, I lay on a treatment table in the Accident and Emergency department of my local hospital. The doctor attending to my pain and shock was a gentle young Muslim called Ali.