I am surprised by some of the reactions to this poem, especially that anyone
would be uncomfortable with a Christian poem just because this person is an
atheist or has no religious faith. I have read and appreciated many poems that
were atheistic, but I was never made uncomfortable by them even though I am a
Christian. Good poetry is more than dogma in my opinion. We are moved by the
compelling qualities of the poem, the power with which the ideas are set
forth, and open-minded enough to realize there are many views in life with which
we may not agree in poetry, but we judge the poem's value on the power of its
presentation and the beauty of the writing. I should hope that most atheists
are not really narrow-minded about Christian values. Faith is a tenuous and
fragile thing for even the most devout Christian, and I believe it was Tennyson
who said, "There is more faith in honest doubt than in half the world's
creeds." David, I liked the poem, but I think it needs to be divorced from the
hymn. It has to stand alone. Sue
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