Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions
Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions are two books written by Richard Bach. The two stories delve into the issue of spirituality. The commonality of the two books is the presence of a messiah figure learning to 
fit into his role as spiritual leader. Illusions is a book completely about the journey of a reluctant messiah realizing his powers, while Johnathon Livingston Seagull is the story of a seagull that realizes his goal in life is to fly higher and faster than the other gulls.
In Illusions, the main character, Richard starts out as a normal mortal. As the story progresses, and after he meets Donald Shimoda, a messiah, Richard begins to learn about the job of messiah. His teacher in the process Donald, is fed up with being messiah. As Richard gains understanding of the role of messiah, he gains powers. He comes to an understanding that these powers are mere tricks, but the true sign of a good messiah is the power to persuade people to live more loving lives.
In Johnathon Livingston Seagull, the main character Johnathon is a seagull who is different from the rest of his flock. While the rest of his bird family only cares about gathering enough food to survive, Johnathon is constantly exploring flight, flying higher and faster than all the other birds. In this process he tries to find the meaning in his life. Eventually he dies trying to fly high. He enters an afterlife and realizes that he was an enlightened bird, and none of his other bird friends enter this state of enlightenment unless they push their boundaries and fly high. Johnathon eventually goes back and teaches his flock that they need to fly high in order to push their boundaries and achieve enlightenment.
The common strain in these books is that of spirituality and enlightenment. Both books contain a messiah who is trying to get people to understand something in order to attain a more complete life. Johnathon's metaphor of flying higher could be achieving something greater in our lives. I would like to think that flying higher could represent art, music, poetry, or any of the other forms of human expression. By doing something artistic and expressive, we gain a better understanding of our own lives, and what happens after we die.