In Depth:  Ann Benton

In a day when relativism, individualism and the love of money are prevalent, it is interesting that the media should be engaged in re-examining and generally celebrating the works of a man who wrote so extensively and scathingly about such issues.

Charles Dickens, while universally admired, is not universally loved. His books are long, his plots thick, his denouements incredible, his descriptions very wordy and some modern readers lose the will to turn the page. But for comedy — his books contain some of the funniest scenes ever written — and for pathos, characterisation, dialogue and powerful storytelling, Dickens is matchless and his books well worth the effort. If this is to be a year when Dickens writings will be under general discussion, believers should not miss out. Dickens’s fiction is packed with truth and with large and serious themes.

As parents approach their children’s teenage years they may benefit from some reflection under three headings.

Review

Even where children have been raised under good guiding principles, a parent may find it helpful to review how effective those strategies have been. Should some adjustments be made?

Women have always played a vital part in evangelical churches.

They have been the faithful attenders, the godly raisers of children, the pinafored polishers of church steps or brasses, the diligent Sunday School teachers, the dogged prayer warriors and the humble suppliers of practical needs.

Is it a boy or a girl? This is the first question that is asked on the birth of a new baby.

On the basis of gender, not merely the name but also the wallpaper and the clothing is selected. The parent is already in the brave new minefield of gender identity. Some distinctions, while cultural and arbitrary, are benign. It would be a very mean feminist who would send her son to school in a dress.

Christmas, we are told, is a time for family. Deep in the British psyche at Christmas is the idea embodied by the Cratchit family in Dickens's A Christmas Carol, of a family united around a lovingly prepared feast.

Every October and November magazines tell us how to manage this crucial event - this magical meal: turkey without tears, your essential Christmas dinner countdown.

'How do I get him or her to behave?' When I give a talk to parents, they usually want me to talk about discipline.

But I have to remind them about the cart and the horse. Or about the fact that a farmer would be foolish to look for a harvest if he had not done any sowing.