We All Need Something to Believe In

We were sitting on the pavement in the West End one evening, when a well-dressed guy emerged from the tube station concourse, walked to a spot a dozen or so metres from us and erected a placard.

It read: ‘Believe in the Lord’.

I left him to it. My salvation depended on selling another dozen copies of The Big Issue before the evening rush hour ended.

The guy soon started preaching, reading from the Bible, but few people paid him any attention. Some were openly abusive to him. I admired his resilience. He believed in something, I thought to myself.

For a moment I watched him, fascinated, a question forming in my mind.

Hmm, I thought. What do I believe in?

Just then Bob perked up and let out a meow. It was his ‘I’m hungry’ meow.

I reached into my rucksack and dug out a treat, then bent down to feed him. He leaned into my hand and rubbed his head against it, purring quietly.

I smiled to myself. I had my answer.

‘You are what I believe in, Bob,’ I said.

It was true. He had given me a new approach to life. A different perspective. He’d also given me purpose. Something to focus on, a shape to my day-to-day life. A structure that hadn’t been there before.

In some sense, Bob must have felt the same way, too. He needed something to believe in as well, I guess. I think we all do.