Tag Archives: Faith

Can We Love the Morning Again?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 16, 2021

In this poem Levertov talks about the difficulties of loving the morning again after a night of horrors.

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The Real Temple Can’t Be Destroyed

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2019

Like Jesus, George Herbert (in “Scion”) sees the temple, not as a physical structure, but as the human heart.

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Let Us Sail into the Promise of the Day

By Robin Bates | Published: October 12, 2019

E. A. Robinson’s “Children of the Night” finds spiritual hope in a dark world.

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Caught between Faith and Doubt

By Robin Bates | Published: February 3, 2018

Rushdie has a great passage about a character caught between faith and doubt. The passage gives me an opportunity to determine where I myself stand.

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The New Moon, A Prayer Opening to Faith

By Robin Bates | Published: December 17, 2016

In a powerful Advent poem, David Whyte compares waning faith with the waning moon. The poem reminds me of poems by John Keats and Lucille Clifton.

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Emily Dickinson’s “Smart Misery” of Doubt

By Robin Bates | Published: July 23, 2016

Emily Dickinson struggled with religious doubt all of her life. Because she desperately wanted to belief, some of her poems show her faith being tested.

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A Good Faith Is Hard To Find

By Robin Bates | Published: March 7, 2015

Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” is a profound meditation on doubt and faith.

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The Creator Spirit’s Deep Embrace

By Robin Bates | Published: January 18, 2015

Denise Levertov’s “Avowal” equates opening oneself to God to opening oneself to “the Creator Spirit.”

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Coming Home Like a Lamb to the Fold

By Robin Bates | Published: August 24, 2014

Ruth Pitter’s “Estuary” works as a response to Matthew Arnold’s crisis of faith in “Dover Beach.”

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