I was worried about the bill myself - not that I would not be able to pay it, but that if he kept on talking the job would take so long that it would prove more expensive than I had bargained for.

In the Jewish law the requirement to love one's neighbour followed a prohibition of hatred and revenge. Jesus stretched its meaning to include not only relations and the people next door, but anyone in need.

What was the bridge, I was asking myself, that would aid our understanding?

In the green and wooded countryside which skirts Lake Geneva and has been civilized since Roman times, I found a unique juxtaposition. The convent of Fille Dieu sits quietly at the foot of the medieval town of Romont, neighboured by horses and sheep in lush fields. Within its walls, there has been constant prayer since 1253. There I met the Abbess, a French philosopher and nuclear physicist, who for the past 37 years has devoted herself to the life of the spirit.

What was Mary like and why did she do it? She was alarmed by the visit of the angel to tell her what would happen.

For two days the coach wrestled with this and then went to the authorities and told them that, unbeknown to him at the time, they had benefitted from the skills of someone who should not have been playing. As a result the shield was taken from them and given to another team.

The reflection which brings a change has to come from outside ourselves, from some source of light.

They possessed something more valuable than all the durables that most of us depend on. That something is time.