The single most surprising aspect of having a Hindu priest offer an opening prayer in the United States Senate is that it happened on July 12, 2007. I can't be the only person to whom that must seem a bit late. After all, Hindu scriptures have been read and admired in this country for more than 150 years. (Thoreau took the Bhagavad-gita with him to Walden Pond.) These days, more than one million Hindus call themselves Americans; from Queens, N.Y., to Laguna Beach, Calif., their communities are not exactly obscure. Note that the priest, Rajan Zed, is a resident of Nevada. And, of course, if Protestants, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims are extended the courtesy of having one of their own pray for the Senate, then that symbolic honor can hardly be denied other religious groups.

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The libertarian in me wants to say, Let the patient's judgment rule. (Martin Marty puts this with considerably more elegance when he speaks of the "covenant" between patient and physician.) Problem is, medical decision-making is often not so neatly simple as to be a clear, two-party affair. The primary players may be the doctor and patient, but the patients' family is as likely to be involved, particularly in critical medical issues. And guess what? The family may not always agree among themselves (including with the patient), particularly when there are religious, ethical and moral issues involved.

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I lack a single passage within scripture or literature with which to define my faith. I'll argue instead that's because the field of possibilities is too rich -- and one might add in the case of literature, ever-growing. I doubt I'm alone in saying my beliefs can be inspired, magnified, by what I read, often in unlikely places.

But shouldn't that make sense? Follow the Jewish and Christian claim that we humans are made in God's image, and we should, occasionally, have the power to reflect glory through our artistic abilities. My ongoing encounter with literature, as with the visual arts (including film) can leave me feeling I've shared vicariously with authors in their uniquely illuminating experiences of the divine.

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