So last night I’m watching Countdown with Keith Olbermann, and the #1 story is that Paris Hilton was seen carrying copies of the Bible and “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle.

I was floored. Paris Hilton, or at least the public image of Paris Hilton, represents just about everything that is wrong with our American society. Yet here she is, carrying – and maybe even reading – one of the most important books I’ve ever read.

Oh, and she also had the Bible. I say that tongue-in-cheek because I haven’t read the whole Bible. Maybe not even one quarter of it. We Catholics aren’t so big on bible study.

Paris, for those who don’t pay attention to these things, is facing a jail term in coming months for some kind of driving infraction in California. Maybe her publicists are simply using God and Eckhart Tolle to make Paris seem somehow repentant and spiritual, in hopes of reducing her sentence.

Whether or not Paris goes to jail, I hope she reads “The Power of Now” and gets something out of it. If I were going to jail, I’d sure want it with me.