I Want To Believe:

From Unwind by Neil Shusterman:

"You . . . you lost your faith?"

"No," he says, "just my convictions. I still very much believe in God—just

not a god who condones human tithing."

Lev begins to feel himself choking up with an unexpected flood of feeling, all

the emotions that had been building up throughout their talk—throughout the

weeks—arriving all at once, like a sonic boom. "I never knew that was a choice."

All his life there was only one thing Lev was allowed to believe. It had

surrounded him, cocooned him, constricted him with the same stifling softness as

the layers of insulation around him now. For the first time in his life, Lev feels

those bonds around his soul begin to loosen.

"You think maybe I can believe in that God, too?"