One of the joys of reading is not only satisfying a curiosity or gaining new knowledge, but the new directions it takes you in. While reading Victor Davis Hanson's "Carnage and Culture" this summer, I became interested in military history and the cultural mileiu in which the battle took place. While at Barnes and Noble, I made an impulse purchase-Michael Oren's "Six Day War". Although dense reading, I devoured the book within two weeks, and found a new interest in the emergence of radical Islam within the Middle East, and the history of anti-semitism (I have been reading Walter Lacquer's "The Changing Face of Anti-semitism". This led me to read all of the editorial articles surrounding the recent-controversy about Pope Bendict XVI's Regensburg speech.

Most recently, I have had an interest in the battle for the truth of Christianity within a post-modern western culture. Last night, I bought G.K. Chesterton's "Orthodoxy" and Ravi Zacharias' "The Real Face of Atheism". Both of these books relate to the Pope's recent statements about the positive agenda that Christianity supposes instead of the widespread perception that it is a religion based upon a laundry list of: Thou Shall Nots.

Last year at this time, I had an interest in pursuing a law degree at a Catholic university-where I could combine the study of theology with law. Now, I am more interested in world philosophies as they apply to religion, and how these philosophies bear themselves out in real-world behavior. I continue to wonder if I am to live in the secular world as a lay person or perhaps as clergy bringing non-believers to the truth that is Christianity. Despite my impatience at the answer, I have faith that I will come to a fulfilling resolution.