In London, I see a man selling the Big Issue. I pass him on the way to a press conference. He is stood on one leg, the other horizontally held in the air, the magazine held out in front. He has sad but intelligent eyes and a kind smile that quivers around his mouth as I walk past without buying. He looks like he might have been an accountant or lawyer in another life. On the way back, he is still there, in the same position. Perhaps he has not moved for an hour. This time, I have to stop and buy. I ask,'How did a man like you end up homeless?' He replies, in an accent unmistakably middle class, 'Depression.' I've always found the Bishop of Croydon's prayer, 'Oh God,' effective when feeling low, but have never experienced clinical depression. One thing that often seems to desert the truly depressed people I know is faith. The last thing they want to hear about is God. Maybe there are times when a praywall is not such a bad idea after all.
