My new Driver Licence arrived in the post, and like a good and responsible citizen, I promptly proceeded to cut up the old one. But about halfway through the first cut, I had the awful feeling that I had sunk the scissors into the new card. I hadn’t, which was an enormous relief, and better still, a confirmation that my Sanity Licence still has some currency. I’m sure the fatal cut’s been done, and to much chagrin, but thankfully not this time by me.

The Book records a number of cutting mistakes, and some of them quite deliberate. Like the new king of Ammon who took the scissors to the beards and trousers of the delegation sent by King David to express sympathy on the death of his father. And like King Jehoiakim who took the scissors to a new scroll sent to him by the prophet Jeremiah. Sadly both instances only showed that the kings who held the scissors had lost their wisdom.

The Father however made no mistake, when at that first Easter, He took the scissors to the great curtain in the Temple. The Old Licence, which for centuries had served well, had now expired – superseded by the administration of the Lamb-Priest, who had just made his offering on the outskirts of Jerusalem; and in so doing, issued the New Licence – amazingly effective in all jurisdictions and wonderfully dispensed without an expiry date, which is brilliant news for all who carry it in their heart-wallet.