Today I had my car MOT'd. To my relief, having replaced a bulb, a blade and the number plate, it has been deemed roadworthy for another year. Having my focus on cars, I pondered the fate of the UK steel industry which is, I hear, suffering due to lack of demand for new vehicles, among other things. I am, of course, sympathetic to those who face uncertain futures because of this. However, I also feel that in the big picture, current events may be for the greater good.

There has evolved a throwaway society in which nothing seems built to last. Cars, fridges, carrier bags, shampoo bottles, even families fall victim to the culture that encourages one and all to toss away and upgrade. Maybe the time has arrived to take stock, to repair and restore, to value things and move away from the urge to get new and, by implication, better ones.

The news and current affairs programmes are obsessed with money, with the state of the economy. People are valued by their possessions and earning potential, it seems, more than by their acts of kindness and generosity of spirit.

Pursuit of money, worrying about money, causes so much heart-ache and distress. We are born penniless, we take no pennies into spirit with us, yet for three score years and ten it is a major preoccupation. Just maybe, collapsing economies, currencies and the like will lead to changes in society that will lead to the only real measure of a person being on a scale of Love.