Around that time, I went to a lunchtime prayer-meeting at school. It was voluntary, and presided over by a cleric and teacher who later became the Headmaster of St Paul’s School in London. I was not sure what to do, and felt a bit uncomfortable. Apparently each boy present was expected to improvise his own prayer. I didn’t think much of those which came before me, because they seemed rather sanctimonious. When it came to my turn, this being at the height of the Cold War, I thought that we should pray for our ‘enemies’, in light of injunctions in the Gospels, so I explained that in a few words and offered a short prayer for the then leaders of the Soviet Union.
