Anyone else catch this? Not much said in the press!!!

Anyone else here a fan of soccer genius Paul Gascoigne? Over the years I've followed his career with desperate fascination as he has hurtled down towards the bottom of the cliff, wanting to reach out and not knowing how.

As a one-time journeywoman along that 'road most travelled', I feel a gruesome horror when watching another flawed human being in the grip of compulsions they cannot believe they cannot control, lurching from one disaster to the next, pursued by those hideous 'horsemen of the apocalypse'.

All around, all the time, there are others making that same journey. Most never 'get off the lift'. When they do, they often rarely stay off it. Death or insanity are too often the result. But I've seen others, deemed beyond hope by all who know and love them including me, make incredible recoveries.

Gascoigne credits his new-found faith in God. 'I just thank Him for today. If I don't drink, I just say thanks.'

An old friend of mine, Andre, used to say: 'When even one man or woman gets to this place, all the angels in heaven are silent in awe.' I believe that's something of what Jesus meant when he talked of not even one sparrow falling without God knowing of it.

Judging by this interview that I caught on Sky this morning, Paul Gascoigne has finally got it. I really never thought he would, and can only pray silence in awe.

Ruth Gledhill is The Times Religion Correspondent. In this blog she offers her views on the issues of the day. Your responses are invited.