When Darkness Seems My Closest Friend: Reflections on Life and Ministry with Depression

When Mark Meynell spoke in a central London church, more than 1,500 people hung on to his every word. What they couldn't have known was that their minister was terrified of being laid bare in public. Fear of shame and exposure is crippling, even if, as in Mark's case, the sufferer is innocent. And it's one of the most devastating elements of depression, although certainly not the only one. Mark invites us into the darkness of his cave. We relive significant moments from boarding school, Uganda, Berli, and London. We visit the Psalms, Job, and The Pilgrim's Progress. If you're after neat conclusions and a fair-weather faith, this is not for you. This book serves up gritty reality and raw honesty, but also the heartfelt hope that the author's brokenness "can somehow contribute to another person's integration" and "inspire their clinging while beset by darkness or fog or blizzards."