The Smallest Things Can Lead To Thoughts On Religion

Every once in a while, I’ll read a book that causes me to think seriously over my own thoughts on religion, though the book is not something that I picked up for spiritual education purposes. I’m a little ashamed to say that I haven’t read many books just for the edification of my spiritual well being. My reading has been focused in another direction and I’m not ashamed of the books I have read, just the lack of time I’ve spent on books that should demand some of my attention. However, I don’t feel that my time has been wasted or that my testimony has been neglected because I’ve been reading classics. On the contrary, I’ve found that I’ve spent a lot of time pondering over what the gospel teaches and what I believe in due to some of these books. Some of the books have been pretty religious in and of themselves, though not LDS books, like Siddhartha and The Screw Tape Letters. It would have been very hard for me to read the story of Siddhartha, the story of the man trying to find his own religious path, and not think about the things that I’ve believed and done in my own life to have the peace of mind and the knowledge of God that I do; and of course The Screw Tape Letters has so many ideas that correspond with the LDS religion that it’s hard to believe that C. S. Lewis wasn’t a Mormon. There are also books that are not overtly religious that lead me to the realization that I am truly blessed to have the gospel in my life. At the moment, I’m reading The Razors Edge by Somerset Maugham. The religious aspects of this book are fluttering around the edges of the story at the moment, and may take a bigger role in the story later, but up to where I am in the book the author has made one or two small comments that have stopped my reading short and have brought me to the contemplation of how grateful I am that I have a knowledge of the gospel and the truth of things that many people are searching for.