Man was made at the end of the week’s work when God was tired.

Picture the making of people as the last job of a long week, finished by someone ready to put the tools down, and a good deal about human behaviour starts to make sense. You do not need any belief about creation for the joke to land: people are inconsistent, forgetful and prone to foolishness. Seen with humour, those failings look less like a scandal and more like what anyone might expect.

Try applying that gentleness to your own mistakes this week, and to other people’s. When someone gets something wrong, allow them the tired-craftsman defence. It can soften irritation into something closer to affection.