A Little Inspiration: Books and Religion

Ever since I graduated from JMU last fall (a whole year ago...can't believe it), I've picked up reading for fun. As long as I can remember, I've hated reading because a vast majority of everything I've ever read was somehow assigned to me and I expected to be graded and/or tested on it. Pressure like that cultured my hatred of reading. But now that I can read whatever on Earth I want (and God-forbid stop reading something if I don't like it!), I've read several books and have informally narrowed down my favorite genre.

NON-FICTION! Or inspired-by-true-events type deals. Other than Harry Potter, I feel like I'm wasting my time reading about something that has never happened and would rather read about something that will teach me about religion, a significant person, events in the world, religions, or an individual's experiences. Some of these books have included Deepak Chopra's Muhammad; The Diary of Anne Frank; Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea; The Autobiography of Malcolm X; and The Kite Runner (this one's pushing it, though, since it's just loosely based on real events). Right now I'm working on Eat Pray Love and am LOVING it (the movie disappointed me just a little). So many interests I have all rolled up into one book. I'm just not a novel girl.

In many of these books I've recently read, I've folded down pages with quotes I especially liked and thought I'd share some here! Maybe for technical reasons I should say that I'm not trying to force an opinion on anybody. These are just things that I read that made me think and/or I liked the meaning, the wording, the philosophy, or anything in between. First book I'll share things from:

·        “'God thinks about everything, and he does it all at once.  That’s what makes him God.'” – pg. 9

·       "Indecency is how men know that they are men." – pg. 42

·        "Many years later I was out walking and happened to see a figure crouched in an alley.  The light was dim, but I made out Muhammad squatting on his heels.  I nodded.  He put his fingers to his lips and pointed at something on the ground.  A mouse.  The creature had been lured out into the open with a few grains of wheat.

Then Muhammad gazed up at the sky, where a black speck hovered.  My eyes were failing, but I knew it was a hawk.  Muhammad looked back at the mouse, then at the hawk again.

'It has no idea of the danger,' he said.

'Neither do we,' I replied.

You see the point? Like the mouse innocently eating its seeds, we go about our lives not realizing that death is watching us from afar, constantly stalking.  Those were Muhammad’s inner thoughts." – pg. 61

·        “'Allah is in all creatures.'” – pg. 99

·        “'There is your common Arab,' said Waraqah.  'He walks in circles and thinks he’s getting somewhere.  Tie an idol to his nose, and he thinks the gods are leading the way to Paradise.'” – pg. 114

·        “'A grateful dog is worth more than an ungrateful man.'” – pg. 120

·        “'…My secret is that God is not someone you can seek.  He is in all things, and always has been.  He created this earth and then disappeared into it, like an ocean disappearing into a drop of water…'” pg. 135

·        “'Blind eyes see more than a blind heart.'” – pg. 156

·        “'A promise is a cloud.  Fulfillment is the rain.'” – pg. 158

·        "How foolish we are here believing we act for ourselves, when God is the only mover." – pg. 195

·        “'I took a walk out of town yesterday. I saw hills and rocks and trees the same as you.  But this time God showed them to me with new eyes, and I rejoiced.' He smiled beatifically.  'Is it not wonderful how God brings us victory in His very creation?'” – pg. 217