This summer, when it was really hot, I bought a hat for Brian Eno.

He was about to go on stage at Greenbelt Festival to talk to my friend Martin Wroe, when Martin sagely observed that it was indeed really hot, and that Mr Eno might like a hat.

So, since I was in the vicinity, I bought Brian Eno a hat, and I like to think it brought him comfort under the hot August sun.

By way of contrast, it was raining hard on Monday morning this week when I got on my bike to go and catch the bus to Oxford.

And as I pedalled, cold and ill-tempered, across South London, muttering curses left, right and straight on, I felt the water drain from my efficiently water-resistant bike jacket directly onto my efficiently water-absorbent trousers, from where it was transmitted, equally efficiently, directly to my pants.

So, by the time I reached the bus, I had the appearance, and comfort level, of a man who has experienced catastrophic bladder failure. It is not a good look.

And as I sat there in my usual seat but in unusually wet pants, I found myself seized by uncharitable thoughts about all sorts of things – God, for the rain; the University of Oxford for being in, well, Oxford; and, weirdly, Brian Eno, comfortable in his hat, in some airport lounge listening to music for airports and not sitting on a bus in his wet pants.

Now, this was stupid.  God is God, Oxford is in Oxford and Brian Eno is a lovely man.

It was stupid, and I will own that stupidity, because I reckon we are all sometimes stupid in frustration and anger, even if it is more regularly the case for me than I would care to admit.

And I am encouraged to know that once upon a time, when Jesus wanted some delicious figs, he actually cursed a tree for bearing precisely zero delicious figs. And the tree promptly died.

Now there are a million interpretations of that strange little story but there is one that appeals to me, and it’s the simplest: that Jesus’ humanity was such that he too could be stupid in anger. We all can.  It doesn’t make us bad.

But I would argue, following Jesus’ example, that it is better to yell at a tree than a person.

And in the absence of a tree, Brian Eno’s hat will do.

Listen to this Pause on BBC Sounds

In the picture, Brian Eno is in conversation with Martin Wroe at Greenbelt Festival 2022. Good hats.