For the many people, life is a patchwork of activities, relationships and aspirations based substantially on 'the small picture' - family, work, neighbours and recreation. But increasingly it is hard to avoid 'the big picture'. Over the past week, there has been debate about how the global financial crisis is hitting us in the guts, how the conflict in Israel-Palestine is felt on the streets of Britain, and how our public institutions can rapidly lose touch with an everyday sense of propriety (as in 'cash for influence').
 
Our research focus this week touches on attitudes towards institutions, race and religion in a poll commissioned by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. The sense that faith can be divisive and overbearing, which many people identified as a problem, is picked up by Martin Marty in his featured article about the way Jesus is often emblemised inappropriately in American public life. Marty starts from the inauguration of President Obama (who also provides one of our topical quotations about the 'patchwork society').
 
Obama's inaugural address is cited by Israeli peace activist and commentator Uri Avnery, as he identifies ways in which both the USA and Israel have for any years been locked into a backward-looking, non self-critical approach to national and international policy. Gaza illustrates how damaging this is. Different concepts and approaches to security are needed, he says.
 
Economic change is also required. Our highlighted event is a debate about the role religion might play in reshaping finance, and some 'thinking in action' is provided by the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility's very helpful guide to investing and engaging with companies from the perspective of faith and ethics.
 
Last but not least, our book choice looks at Christian allegiance in the political arena - by which is meant how adherence to convictions and practices (like peacemaking) arising from the Gospel challenge both too much disengagement from political processes, on the one hand, and the temptation for churches and religious bodies to inappropriately 'grab power' in a way that contradicts their message, on the other. Jesus for president? Not on those terms, but by challenging the top-down system say Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw.