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My maternal grandfather lost his faith in the trenches of World War One. However, he used to say that although he was not religious, he believed that if were not for the 10 Commandments we would still be fighting one another in clans living in caves.

As the anniversary of his passing is this week (he died on April 10th 1979 and would have been 125 this year!), it has prompted me to consider what this Hebrew list of ethical principles might look like if it was secularised, updated and universalised.

Here is what I’ve drafted but others will have their own views, ideas and...

Some people have called it a form of pornography or prostitution. Others say it is the world’s fastest growing religion. Most of us happily engage in it without question.

I am talking about ‘Consumerism’ – attaining in excess of what is needed for sufficiency in life, and building our lifestyles around it.

Originally the Latin word consumare meant to finish or conclude - the end or termination of something. In health terms, consumption was a synonym for TB, often known as the wasting disease and a huge taker or destroyer of life.

So how can a word with such a...

In order to learn how to take good pictures of nature, read on for some tips sure to get you the results you want. One thing’s for certain — it involves far more than merely pointing and clicking.

1. Seek and You Will Find: One of the most important things you can do if you want to up your game with nature pictures is to start to identify the beauty of nature around you. Scenes that might on the surface appear to be so ordinary might actually represent ideal opportunities for great photographs . Whether it involves a group of deer huddled together as they eat the foliage, a bee...

As has happened in other periods of history, we are now witnessing a surge in the growth of ‘tribalism’. This is partly the consequence of a culture which anonymises people to such a degree that it produces pervasive loneliness and alienation. We do not know where we belong and we thrash about in the water of isolation seeking a lifebelt.

There is a tension between the individual and the collective, and at present our society is pushing enormously towards individualistic atomisation. We feel lost in a world that seems unloving, uncaring and, at times, unforgiving.

The...