Spiritual Sundays: Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage

Every year at Christmas time and also at Easter, I make goals to try and focus on "the reason for the season" -- I make an effort to focus on Jesus Christ and His life rather than the decorations and celebrations and presents. Some years I am more successful than others. This year I had the idea to read a few pages from James E. Talmage's gigantic tome Jesus the Christ, a book that covers Christ's life from before birth to his prophesied return. I have tried to read this book before. I haven't ever gotten more than a few pages in, and I think this is because I like to read spiritual and nonfiction books slowly so I have time to absorb what I've read. This book is almost eight hundred pages long, so it takes quite a while to read it slowly -- it would take quite a while to read even if it was the only book I was reading!

So this time, I am going to try and read a few pages every day starting with Advent and finishing on Easter (which is on April 8 this year, if the internet tells the truth). I might occasionally share little quotes and thoughts from the book as I progress through it. So far, the language is really beautiful, and the few pages I have read already have me thinking more about Christ from day-to-day and thinking of ways to live my life the way He would want me to live it.

In the words of the author, this is the purpose of the book: "The purpose of the present treatise is that of considering the life and mission of Jesus as the Christ." I am looking forward to learning more over the next few months!