"Love the earth and sun and animals, Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, Stand up for the stupid and crazy, Devote your income and labor to others... And your very flesh shall be a great poem." Walt Whitman

I can't top that.

A few days ago, a fellow on the radio claimed Michelangelo spent his last thirty years trying to win his salvation with his art. I thought, hmm, maybe that's one reason contemporary Christianity is hardly known as a breeding ground for great artists: most of the believers believe their salvation is assured.

I'm not about to engage in any debates about salvation. But here's a thought worth pondering: writing to win our salvation may be the ticket, whether or not we believe in in eternal life or salvation. Such a motive ought to propel us, keep us on track, steer us away from the blind pursuit of dubious goals like wealth or popularity, alert us when we're writing shallow or dishonest words. 

I read long ago that Anthony Burgess got a diagnosis of a terminal disease and began writing like crazy to make money for his family. Sure, I'm naive. But I think my kids will do all right financially. My concern is that they, and some other people,  live well and fully and in accord with the truth they discover. 

Since I would like to help them discover, I'm going to try to live like Michelangelo and write as if my salvation depends upon it. Which means I had best consider what I'm going to write about.

One particular story needs to get told, and soon, in case I get run over by a street sweeper or conked in the temple by an errant golf ball, or some gun toting reader takes offense and decides I'm the devil.

And then, maybe  I'll grapple more consciously with a theme that has hounded me since forever, which involves two simple questions:

• why are so many professing Christians such apparently wicked people?

• how can anyone believe in a faith that so many apparently wicked people claim as their own?

If I could answer here in a few words, I would. But one of my phobias is the fear of simplistic answers. I suppose that's a reason I write novels.