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In a story I’ve been trying to write (a collection of letters, really), the below paragraphs came out of my noggin one day. I generally don’t include religion in my fictional writing because it’s often difficult to combine fantasy and fact and still have them align (unless it’s about history or science, known and unknown). It’s hard for me personally to write about religion along with a whole spew of my imagination with it. For some reason it simply doesn’t feel right. Therefore I have removed that section of my story. I still believe that that particular epistle has some good points in it, so I am including it on my blog instead:

[The author of the letter begins with a salutation and then writes the below]

I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said concerning one’s devotion to God in your last letter just before Thanksgiving. I’ve never really thought about it that way before, but… you really have the ability to cause a person to think!

We who live in such a religious society I think generally believe that we, ourselves personally, are quite devoted to God and His will, but now that I think about it, I wonder if many of us are, as you say, “lounging in the false assurance that we are saved merely because we bear the name of Jesus Christ, yet we don’t do much to prove it, or if we do, we don’t really mean it.” We take upon ourselves His name each Sunday at Sacrament Meeting, but are we “taking His name in vain,” as it were, mainly just to put on a show for the rest of our religious society to think that we’re just as good as they? I suppose we can only individually answer that question ourselves. I hope that I’m devoted enough to God as I should be. After all, I’ve been following Him all my life—I never really went into any real abysses of apostasy or rebellion—but is it true devotion, or am I just a lukewarm saint? There is a very great difference between the man who doesn’t care much for God and knows it and the man who cares for Him with all of the spiritual strength he possesses; however, the subtle difference between a man who desires to care for God and the man who thinks he desires to care for Him is perhaps more the more dangerous difference for all of its subtlety, for it is the hardest weakness to detect and one of the easiest weaknesses for the Enemy to exploit. Let us not be Saints of Make-Believe, then, but ones with absolute gusto! I’m game if you are, my incredibly insightful and intelligent friend. Of course, one cannot change overnight, but it is by daily striving and really throwing oneself into the gospel (and not just living it but acting upon it) without reservation of easy or rough times that one can really build up the Kingdom of God within and around himself.

[The author of the letter continues on other lines of thought, concludes, signs his name, but then adds the following as an afterthought]

P.S. I’ve heard several times that the best way to judge the relationship between God and His Son and yourself is by what you think about while the Sacrament is administered.

I think I can do better.