One of the book's primary themes relates to the author's struggle to come to terms with his religious faith and the history of that faith. Discuss your religious/spiritual history. What is your family's religious/spiritual background? What is your experience of their faith and/or practice? Of your own? What is your understanding of God and the relationship between God and humanity, as a race and/or as an individual?

What is your experience of returning to a place important to you when you were younger? What changed? What hadn't? How did seeing both changes and sameness affect you? What insights about yourself and your past did you gain? Be as specific and as detailed as you can.

Consider and discuss experiences of your earlier life that you believe have defined you. Draw lines of connection between those experiences and who you are...