Believing...: Reason and Rhyme Making Sense out of Life

by Rex Whitman

This is the fifth book in the series, “Reason and Making Sense out of Life,” and in the first four books we examined, through the medium of poetry, several aspects of life that naturally arise throughout the normal process of Knowing…, Living…, Loving…, and “Grieving….” In this last book of the series, Believing, I am exploring the important part that faith plays in this process of making sense out of life. This book is written from a Christian perspective as a retired pastor with the belief that faith is foundational for understanding, not only ourselves, but also our society. One of the criticisms of poetry in the 20th century has been that it has emotionally collapsed inward upon itself and no longer speaks to actual life, but only to our personal emotions concerning life. It is true that poetry may be a significant medium for artistically expressing emotions, but I believe it can be far more than just an anxiety-ridden complaint wrapped in an impressive vocabulary. Poetry can speak to actual life, and it is my prayer that all of the books in this series will speak clearly to life and society. The prophets of the Old Testament spoke their message through the medium of poetry to the people of their day, and I hope that these books can utilize this medium to speak to people in our own day.

84 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 31, 2025