This is one of my all time favourite Christmas carols. As I get older, I realise the reality in which we find ourselves leaves us with a stark choice. We can make our way through life looking for the odd joy here and there but anyone who really ponders the human condition realises that if there is really no power outside of ourselves then things are existentially very bleak.

While I am a Christian, I accept that my only tiny understanding of reality means that I could be mistaken. However, for me the Christian message appears to be the most coherent and correspondent (for a more formal explanation of these ideas which are used in the practice of science see my first lecture) explanation of the strange life in which I find myself. While sometimes, in my darker moments, I think surely the gospel is too good to be true, I choose to continue to hold onto the hope that there is a good God who made us and who one day will put everything to right, despite our best efforts to mess everything up.