Rusty the Pole is an imaginary character. The actual rusty pole was real - and maybe also Mike's dream of maidens dancing naked at full moon. Rusty, an illegal migrant in a small boat from Gdansk, is pure fiction. Santa Claus symbolises a generous Christmas spirit even if not actually crossing the sky on a sleigh; Rusty shows concern for the homeless and migrants.

The Heavenly Host is different, the closer one looks the more real they are. Many Faiths have gods with functional responsibilities, Christianity and Judaism describe angels; it is not difficult to imagine a departmental structure down to a guardian angel at the personal level. A Creator is recognised by all formal Faiths; indigenous peoples without specific faith describe "the Great Spirit", as holding things together.

Ignoring religious texts, history records a Divine Wind in August 1281, 842 years ago, when an overwhelming Mongol invasion of Japan was wrecked by a 48-hour storm. "Divine wind" is written in Japanese as "kamikaze". In 1944, Emperor Hirohito recruited suicide pilots hoping for another divine wind, changing the meaning of "kamikaze". However, the laws of chance had already worked to cripple Japanese strength in the battle of Midway, summarised by one historian as "Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess, sat down for a game of dice with the Statue of Liberty". Midway turned on multiple chances!

There are many other apparent instances of the Heavenly Host intervening, including the confusion of the recent Russian armoured assault on Kiev, which infantry and partisans broke up in the woods! World domination has to get past the Heavenly Host, or so it seems, rendering James Bond unnecessary.

Interventions closer to home are always low-key and never leave supporting evidence. Years ago I prayed very hard for something, but having given up all hope it suddenly happened. During eight years in the Community Larder, too many things worked out right. Due to confusion one day we had borrowed two Co-op trolleys to collect donations when a delivery from Tesco came in two cars. Having two trolleys to unload the two cars was way beyond our managerial detail! There were too many coincidences to be accepted as random chance. The Heavenly Host seems to support worthy causes, ignores selfish prayers to bookmakers, and usually relies on people to do what is needed.

Untimely deaths always leave us feeling horribly let down by the Heavenly Host, but these need to be seen in the perspective where earthly life simply transitions into the afterlife. A caterpillar cannot imagine life as a butterfly, still less a dragonfly nymph living three years under water not even seeing above the surface before breaking out in splendour! I remember telling friends, when my son and daughter-in-law were killed at Easter 30 years ago, that God only takes the best, commenting "it is what I believe, but it is not what I feel!"

My apologies to many readers for whom this is an extremely simplistic explanation of complex beliefs and also to disbelieving readers regarding my Heavenly Host as folklore alongside Father Christmas and Rusty Pole.

We need to do the best we can for each other, realising that we might be being watched both in our good deeds and in those bad moments to which we all succumb.

To quote a bereaved mother after the Nottingham murders, let us all "be kind to one another".