They went into the house together, where they inspected both book and pie.  Dorian weakly objected to the generous portion which was cut for him, but Uncle Zed explained that the process of division not only increased the number of pieces of pie, but also added to its tastiness.  Dorian led his companion to talk about himself.

“Yes,” he said in reply to a question, “I was born in England and brought up in the Wesleyan Methodist church.  I was a great reader ever since I can remember.  I read not only history and some fiction, but even the dry-as-dust sermons were interesting to me.  But I never seemed satisfied.  The more I read, the deeper grew the mysteries of life.  Nowhere did I find a clear, comprehendible statement of what I, an entity with countless other entities, was doing here.  Where had I come from, where was I going?  I visited the churches within my reach.  I heard the preachers and read the philosophers to obtain, if possible, a clue to the mystery of life.  I studied, and prayed, and went about seeking, but never finding.”

“But you did find the truth at last?”

“Yes; thank the Lord.  I found the opening in the darkness, and it came through the simple, humble, and not very learned elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

“What is the principle trouble with all this learning of the world that it does not lead to the truth?”

“The world’s ignorance of God.  Eternal life consists in knowing the only true God, and the world does not know Him; therefore, all their systems of religion are founded on a false basis.  That is the reason there is so much uncertainty and floundering when philosophers and religionists try to make a known truth agree with their conceptions of God.”

“Explain that a little more to me, Uncle Zed.”

“Some claim that Nature is God, others that God only manifests Himself through nature.  I read this latter idea many places.  For instance, Pope says: 

  “’All are but parts of one stupendous whole
  Whose body nature is, and God the soul.’

“Also Tennyson: 

  ’The sun, the moon, the stars, the seas, the hills and plains
  Are not these, O soul, the vision of Him who reigns? 
  Speak to Him there, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet,
  Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.’

“This, no doubt, is beautiful poetry, but it tells only a part of the truth.  God, by His Spirit is, and can be all the poet here describes.  ’Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?’ exclaims the Psalmist.  ’In him we live and move and have our being’ declares Paul; but these statements alone are not enough for our proper understanding of the subject.  We try to see God behind the veil of nature, in sun and wind and flower and fruit; but there is something lacking.  Try now to formulate some distinct idea of what this universal and almighty force back of nature is.  We are told that this force is God, whom we must love and worship and serve.  We want the feeling of nearness to satisfy the craving for love and protection, but our intellect and our reason must also be somewhat satisfied.  We must have some object on which to rest—­we cannot always be floating about unsuspended in time and space.