Taking the Bible too literally is a mistake. It should be read as a guidebook of wisdom and insight.

There's a lot of food restriction in the Bible, but it does say you're allowed to eat crickets, grasshoppers, and locusts. I decided to take advantage of that and eat a cricket. It was chocolate-covered, and I'm not sure that's the way they were served in Moses' time. But this was a rule that seemed crazy on the outside, then actually turned out to be pragmatic and compassionate.

I found there were things about religion that I really loved; things like the sense of gratefulness that it brings.

Very few people changed the world by sitting on their couch.

I got a sense of the amazingness of ordinary life, and I became aware of the marvel that we're around to begin with. I visited a lot of extreme communities, like the Amish, Hasidic Jews, and serpent-handlers. And I was proud, because I think I'm the first person to ever out-Bible-talk a Jehovah's Witness. After four hours, he said, "Okay, I have to go."

Behavior shapes emotions.

I thought religion would make me live with my head in the clouds, but as often as not, it grounds me in this world.