3118. Have some spine © Bruce Goodman 16 February 2025

It’s amazing how so many young people (by young I mean in their twenties-thirties) want me to give them bibles. First it was the King James version, and then it was the New American Bible, and then it was the Jerusalem Bible. I said, “Exactly how many bibles do you need?” and they agreed so I started bringing along other well-bound (I was once a bookbinder) spiritual classics such as Khalil Gibran’s “The Prophet” and “Markings” by Dag Hammarskjöld. They seem to appreciate what I bring, especially since there’s not a great deal of things to do in their low security prison. When I visit them they give me the books back having finished with them. Of course, the spine is always torn, but I can fix that easily, and use the books again. One of the prisoners asked for a copy of Saint Augustine’s “The City of God” three times. I said that the spine won’t stand up to things much longer, he’ll have to choose another religious book. So he picked out Tom Butler Bowdon’s “50 Spiritual Classics” because with having 336 page it had a decent sized spine. As I often say: There’s nothing like a spiritual classic to keep the guards unaware and the prisoners “happy”. Contact Author Back to Index Next Story Previous Story