But you may suddenly somewhere find yourself breathlessly gawping at unexpected beauty, manmade or natural. Be sure that is of God! Or you may come into a place which you can only describe as 'holy' -there is something "beyond" about it, mysterious and good, cool and deep, reassuring. Again you discover somewhere where people have worshipped for century after century and wonder why. Why here? Why all this time? You may ask who's spotting who - am I spotting God or is God spotting me? Truth is, a bit of both, whether you like it or not.

However, with a bit more available time you may want to read about others' experience of God spotting, learning about God. Any books to recommend? Well, the stock answer would be,from a Christian point of view, have a go at the Bible. If you asked a Muslim he would probably suggest the Koran, a Buddhist -The Bhagavad Gita. And you could do worse, far worse.

But if someone came to me here and now I would say without reservation, go for Brian Keenan's "An Evil Cradling" Remember him, held as a hostage for 5 years in Beirut?

It's not an easy read, not your normal light holiday fiction. It is in fact a horror story. One review says

"Could I bear to read this? Could I bear not to? Rarely have I been so humbled and yet uplifted by the bravery of one man's spirit." In words of another it is "as gripping as an airport thriller". Or again, "from this horror has come something beautiful." I give it you first before the others because it is a man's experience lived in our very recent times. We have been a wee bit involved because we have watched it from a very great distance. It is about a man being brought lower and lower by the evil of others and yet not reduced. Rather the reverse -growing in stature beyond all previous understanding of himself.

It explores the bruiser violence at the heart of any religious fundamentalism ("we believe in our God. You'd better believe what we believe or you're for it").

Brian Keenan stumbles upon God when everything else has been taken away. He has no illusions about God. No cant, no false piety. This God is no cosmic magician. Faith is not full and fat and happy here. Just bleached bare bones. When everything has been reduced to nothing, from minus to minus to minus, and nothing is left, he discovers God is somehow there. Love is somehow there, for you and beyond you for all mankind, "A compassion greater than our need for each other created an invisible presence... So I prayed again. One needs to believe that someone somewhere is thinking about you when you are in a dangerous situation."

The book is also very funny, full of the most basic scat humour that arises from the bottom of the pit. "Each suffered his own torments and his own personal hell.....As we suffered with a friend...... each of us acquired almost instinctually, a deeper and richer capacity for joy, for humour, for laughter.

When you have so little you find joy in insignificant things."

For each of you who knows a little about his or her own personal hell, this book is for you.

It will lift your spirit and refresh your hope in the spirit of man. Have a good holiday.

P.S. You can of course spot God anywhere, anytime - if you want to look!