I was a young girl growing up Protestant in the Midwest when I first encountered Chaim Potok's work. Strangely, I felt quite at home with his world of mostly Hassidic Jews in NY. Why? Because all of his characters were people I had met in church. That is, the ways that these very Orthodox urban Jews stood relation (or opposition) to the faith were much the same as what I had observed among my own suburban Methodists. This oppened a door for me. It showed me a way to look for the Truths behind the dogma and details of faith stories. It lead me to seeking guideposts to the Divine in the universal themes found in diverse spiritualities.

This is a book I have returned to reread at different stages of my life. Each time it has something new to say to me. This story of one man's quest for enlightenment is written in a style so simple it almost has the quality of poetry. Siddhartha follows each traditional path, as well as the path of the world, only to find that following teachers, doctrines, religions, does not lead to enlightenment. Rather the Way appears when he ceases striving to find it. Yet, paradoxically, he would not have been prepared that Way without first receiving the guidance of friends, mentors and the experience of his own striving.

How do we learn enough, become human enough to rightly face death? This process is sensitively examined in the story of a young, terminally ill priest, serving in mission among the native tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

C. S. Lewis is a master of exploring religious themes through fantasy literature. Although he is best known in this area for The Screwtape Letters and his Narnia series, I hold up The Great Divorce here because it presents the only idea of hell that I have been able to accept.

The Deed of Paksenarian by Elizabeth Moon examines the making of a Paladin and development of faith and true heroism. Paksenarian is the honorable warrior, whose valour and dedication to the good lead her through personal destruction to redemption and ultimately to her greatest Deed won not by force of arms, but through self-sacrifice and humility.

Perhaps one of the best fictional examinations of the tension between religion and science. The church has both preserved and persecuted science in it's history. Sometimes it has done both simultaneously. This rich novel examines this paradox and the question of what drives man to build and to destroy. It examines the nature of hope faced with the knowledge of the continual cycle of civilization's rise and fall.

This collection of intimately connected novellas by an exceptional author, Ursula K. LeGuin, examines how 'hold fast to the one true thing', and how we reach for forgiveness and redemption when we fail. More importantly, as in so much of her work, these tales consider how we become fully human by how we recognize, respond to, and reconcile the light and darkness within ourselves and others.

The first of Frank Herbert's excellent sci/fi/fantasy epic examining the nature and evolution of religious movements that are founded by a prophet or messianic figure. To be sure the protagonist in Dune is both. But don't be fooled: he is much more a 'Mohammed-figure' than a 'Christ-figure'.

"There is no such thing as a true tale. Truth has many faces and the truth is like to the old road to Avalon; it depends on your own will and your own thoughts, whither the road will take you." This is the best re-imagining of the Arthurian Legend I have ever read. Told from the point of view of Morgan le Fay, the story is one of personal loyalties and betrayals told within the context of the struggle between the old Goddess-based faith of the British Isles and the increasingly paternalistic Celtic Christian faith. Marion Zimmmer Bradley has done enough research to give many of the plot turns and interpretations a real sense of truth.

Understanding the Old Testament is an excellent and easily understandable exploration of story of the people of Israel from the Exodus in the time of Moses through the dawn of the Common Era. Suitable for beginning students of religious studies as well as interested lay people, this introduction provides and interwoven study of historical, archeaological, literary, and religious perspectives.

Karen Armstrong is better known for A History of God, her examination of the history of Western monotheism. While that otherwise thought-provoking work has some clear biases and flaws, one of the points that struck me deeply was that the strongest similarities among Judaism, Christianity and Islam occurred in their mystical/visionary traditions. Differences blur within the segments of each of those different faith communities that were focused entirely upon the experience of a transcendant God. This work highlights four compelling visions of God from medieval visionaries whose unique beliefs and spiritual strengths lead them beyond the narrow dogma of their times and allow them to speak still today of the intense and passionate experience of faith.

This book represents the introduction to Wiccan religion as it was first presented to most of my generation. While too strongly woman-centered, many of the ideas are still fresh and interesting. It is also a fascinating book from the perspective of this former religious studies student in that it is an intriguing example of the early development of ritual and myth in a 'new' religion.

A beautiful book of prayerful poetry that I return to again and again for meditation and inspiration. When I find myself unable to connect in prayer, the simple and beautiful prayers in this book so often provide the key to unlocking my own voice to speak again with God.