Thank you, as ever, for the grace and wisdom of your thoughts, dear Father Steve. One of the still almost overwhelming senses of gratitude I feel for this forum is the ability it gives me to share conversations with such a rich diversity of views and varied experiences from around the world, linked by largely common values of respect and consideration.

To all of you who are of the turkey-murdering persuasion, can I wish you a very happy holiday in the bosom of your family or other loved friends!

May I also have the temerity to suggest, having just yesterday received a heartrending account of suffering from a friend in Pakistan, that it behoves all of us who share thanks for multiple blessings to do something practical, today, however modest in scale, for one or more of our fellows in dire need? We do, after all, have a wide choice of suitable recipients of a token of our care.