I've come to think that writing is a nervous condition. Writers are people who are constantly nervous, a condition probably not aided by the prevalence of cell phones.) Thus are they susceptible to various crutches that serve to calm them. So are they prone to alcoholism, to people pleasing. Maybe people pleasing is another separate issue they have, related to shyness, of some psychological difficulty with expressing inner wants and needs, the great confusion that being overly intelligent a creature. They write to soothe themselves. They write when they are bored and confused, when they cannot exert themselves. They write when they feel disappointed.

(I suffered too many wine-related headaches last year. I'm going to try to be better about that in 2012. I'm going to try to be better at not people pleasing.)

People turn, quite naturally, to religion to calm them. The spiritual moment in life is one of quiet, candlelit, reflective, peaceful, alone. It offers some rare and precious downtime, even from our greatest worries. And the notion that one could be 'the least of these,' (see Marilynne Robinson article below) be a person out of favor, down on your luck, hated, banished, and still be worthy of being in the company of Jesus Christ, the highest of people, is quite soothing to the troubled mind, maybe remarkably so.

So it is not surprising when a writer who has gone through his struggles gravitates to a situation that evokes Judeo-Christian (for example) thought or persona.