Are saints born or are they made? This is a good question. I think they are born. The parents of saints are not saints, so they don’t have any role models. They may read about other saints, but this would not suffice.

Me, I was not born a saint. I was simply born. What got me to thinking about this was my friend Vicki’s comment tonight, which is that I have a choir of angels sitting on my shoulders and singing. I really do like this image, and it may be true.

It is true that I have just about everything that I’ve ever wanted. There are a few more things I’d like, like more pasturage for the horses, and to publish Shelf Life – but even I can’t have it all. Having some is good enough.

Bootleg painting

What I do not understand is how this book project came to be and how it has changed my life. I now know so many wonderful people – Vicki comes to mind because I just talked to her. She’s on the BLBP board, and I have told her that her job is to support me, which she does very well.

I read about Joan of Arc, who at 19 was burned at the stake. She did her life’s work as a very young woman. How could this be? She was, I read, motivated by a voice that told her what to do. This sufficed – she did not need to have the angels on her shoulder, although maybe they were there.

I recall something somewhat related to this. Carole Henry, who at the time was a volunteer coordinator at VCRS, once showed me a video by this fellow who lived in New York City. He got books into the hands of appreciative children. He was very much into making the mind/body connection. In the video he had kids exercising. Then he was taken out into the parking lot of the school and was given a large van/bookmobile.

I was in awe of this fellow. I have not been able to find any information about him online. But I have since realized that I have done what he’s done and more. At the time I saw his video, I would not have thought this possible.

I do not believe, as some have said, that I have been driven to do what I do by passion. Passion is simply emotion, and there is more to this than than that. I think that there is also logic behind my decision making process. The logic part – getting books into the hands of appreciative readers will make for a more literate society.

I enjoy conversing with literate people, like my friend Timothy. I hadn’t seen him in a long, long time, and today he appeared in the former banquet room of the historic Eagle Hotel. Just like that. He wanted Alaskan Native books for a young friend and theological books for himself.

We had a long theology-related discussion – and we both agreed that no God would send children to hell. This is a no brainer. The questions are, why am I having such discussions with Timothy and others? And why now? I do need to give this matter a lot more thought.

Next: 275. 10/12/25: Administrativa