I think there are two types of people in this life.  Those who read labels, instructions and recipes before opening packets, boxes and proceeding to start assembling, cooking or whatever – and those who don’t.  For those in the middle, like me, it is not so much an antipathy for reading these things as it is failing to make any sense of them.  IKEA are the worst.  ‘IKEA’, as you know, is a subtle Swedish mnemonic for ‘invite your neighbour round, who has a toolkit, and who may actually know what they are doing’.  I do not.  The phrase ‘flat-packed for your convenience’ is to me, a cruel taunt.

You may not know it, but this week sees the church remembering and celebrating the life and example of Saints Barnabas, Ephrem of Syria, Ini Kpouria (founder of the Melanesian Brotherhood), Thomas Ken, and of course our beloved Columba, today – to name but a few.  Saints come in all shapes and sizes.   Granted, it is easy to get to be humorous with hagiology – the study of Saints.  There are saints for travellers, sore throats, children, pets and television.  Their benefaction leaves nothing untouched.  Yet to focus on their patronage misses their point.  Saints serve a far more serious purpose in life, and we ignore their function at our peril.  On a cautious note, society seems to need Saints as much as it needs Sinners: people to praise, people to blame.