At the bus stop the only thing to look at was the illuminated advert for a mobile phone. Under an attractive girl's face I read: 'Why do anything you can't laugh at afterwards?' Presumably that would ring bells with potential buyers. And would go down well at a party ... or even the morning after.

We knew that nothing is sacred; now we know that nothing is serious either. Anything for a laugh, a laugh for anything. Hang the consequences; so what if someone gets hurt, if someone is ejected?

The trouble is that consequences come home and some things are serious. We don't laugh when we get hurt. It is fashionable and fun to watch others' lives, but we cannot inhabit Reality TV for ever. Sooner or later we bump into the real world, where everything has consequences, not all of which can be laughed off.

The singular appeal of Christianity is that it faces reality - such realities as evil, guilt, suffering, pointlessness and death. One person faced these realities and conquered them (see 'One of a kind' below) by going, with tears, to death for others. Christianity is escape from illusion into reality. Try turning off the illusions and tuning in to reality.

By discovering his identity, you may find yours - and the sound of true laughter.