The winter garden is looking sharp and very serene in the thinning afternoon sun. Walking about to gather up kindling for the fire, it was impossible not to notice the way light played upon different features - a dead branch, the last of the turning leaves, a bower bird amongst the grass. It is truly a balm for the soul, the long shadows crossing the lawn, or the baptizing of most mundane of objects - a stray brick, a garden cart or a bucket full of ashes.

Later, I opened the new portable Bible I bought recently and alighted by accident upon Psalm 139. Having just spent half an hour in the fading though glorious sunshine of my back garden, I found this deep meditation upon God's foreknowledge of all creation to be a splendid follow up, unexpected but profound. Even if you don't have any belief in the manner I speak about here, this psalm is worth a read. It is almost impossible not to be moved by it.