A hotel executive tells this story:

‘The hotel I manage is located near a renowned hospital. Recently, we noticed that a man and a boy were visiting regularly and surmised that they were father and son, and that the son was undergoing treatment at the hospital. One evening, the father sent the boy up to bed and called over the head waiter. “My son is about to start chemotherapy tomorrow,” he said. “He’s really upset at the prospect of his hair falling out, so he’s decided to shave it all off tonight. I’m going to do the same to support my son. When you see us tomorrow morning, please don’t react.”

‘The head waiter was touched by the story and briefed his colleagues. The next morning, father and son came down with bald heads, feeling rather nervous. But, as they went in to breakfast, they gradually realised they weren’t the only ones who looked a bit different that day. No fewer than ten members of staff had shaved their heads out of solidarity with the boy.’

It’s hard to learn from someone who doesn’t seem to believe the same as us. If we’ve made up our minds that they’re ‘unsound’, our curiosity tends to wither on the vine.

Imagine my own disbelief, therefore, when a ‘Mind, Body and Spirit’ bestseller I’d bought (to check out the opposition) crept up on my blind side and helped me to see things afresh.

Eckhart Tolle’s star is in the ascendant right now; suffice to say he’s the subject of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club ‘Summer School’ this year. Russell DiCarlo’s introduction to Tolle’s The Power of Now sets an intriguing scene: ‘Our ultimate destiny’, he writes, ‘is to re-connect with our essential Being and express from our extraordinary, divine reality in the ordinary physical world, moment by moment.’ Sounds dodgy on one level, of course, but so did Jesus. On another level it resonates deeply.

It’s all very well to hear that you can ‘make a difference where you are’, as the LICC publicity states. But who really believes it?

Sometimes, it seems we simply don’t have the chance. Aside from keeping your cool when the photocopier packs up at just the wrong moment, or not swearing at your children when they poke you in the eye, or confessing at the checkout when they’ve given you too much change, when do we ever truly get to make our mark on society?

Q: What does the man who has everything want?
A: He wants to make a difference.

At least, Roman Abramovich, the super-rich Russian owner of Chelsea Football Club, apparently does. His chief executive, Peter Kenyon, was reported earlier this week in the Guardian as saying: ‘When we talked about “What do you want Chelsea to do? What is success?”, he said he wanted Chelsea to “make a difference”.’

I admit it: I have succumbed. I now have my face on Facebook.

I didn’t even know what it was until recently, but now I’m part of an online network of friends and family that circles the globe, where I can post my latest pictures and let others know what (I think) makes me tick. In fact, it’s such fun that every time my wife walks into my office, she catches me tweaking my profile…

Most of us feel that we’re due a break from the weather, as much as from our daily routine, our pace of life, our regular backdrop, even our friends.

So, if you’re going away this summer, here are a few ideas to help you reflect on your journey of life and faith, as you (hopefully) gain a little much-needed space for respite and reflection.

‘Let the work of change begin,’ declared the new Prime Minister on the steps of No 10 on Wednesday. He used that word eight times in his short statement.

Everything must change. At least, that’s what Nina Simone once said in her song of the same name. ‘Nothing stays the same.’