Love, Faith, and Life Through the Work of Poetry

Isn’t there anything more beautiful than having both love and faith in one place? Raymond Quattlebaum in reflection of love has proven this through his delightful and captivating book, The Color of Love. Quattlebaum took us on a spellbinding journey through the pages of his book as he explores love and faith through beautiful rhythmic verses, focusing on God’s love and love for humankind as the central theme of his book. The author also touches on life and the need to be resilient, to consistently push forward despite life’s obstacles. To constantly push on with the right amount of faith in the omnipotent being who created us all out of love for all living and breathing creatures.

Love and Poetry

According to poets of all ages, love is the most powerful emotion that moves us all. “Love can move mountains,” as they say. As cliche as it sounds, there is some bearing of truth to the statement of love being the most compelling force that drives men to do things that, at some point, seemed impossible to the regular, average guy. It is that energy, stored and hidden, that, when stirred up, can either make or break the human spirit. Raymond Quattlebaum in reflection of love talks about love through the meaning of Christian love. Christian love literally translates to the love for Christ, or Jesus Christ. It can also mean the love of Christ for humanity and the love of Christians for other people. The author weaves brilliant poetry in motion love in the essence of God’s unconditional love for humanity. When love and poetry come together, it becomes this ingenious literature that enthralls its readers or audience. There is a unique beauty when love is expounded through poetry. It is as if the author wants to personally send the message and reach out to the reader that this message of love is for you, that this is a personal conversation and message between the author and the reader.  

Faith and Poetry

Christian faith is a significant theme in Quattlebaum’s books. Faith, as pondered upon in the books, is about the dynamic relationship between God and men. It weighs on the importance of having a relationship built on trust for God for His goodness and compassion. Faith literally translates to a strong belief in something or someone, whether seen or unseen. Although faith is primarily founded on an individual’s religion, faith can also refer to the trust given from one person to another. Faith, in essence, also helps to simplify life. It also helps to overcome useless and baseless anxieties. This is the kind of faith that Quattlebaum talks about in his books. It is that complete trust that all things work out for the good of the person who places their complete trust on the infinite being who created life, who created this world. Now, if faith and poetry come together, what do you get? An alluring literature that captures its audience through its rhythm and rhyme, stimulating their thought process, making them think beyond the written words, asking the question of what is the ultimate purpose of having faith. Poetry is, after all, creating awareness in its audience about what the author wanted to convey. 

Life and Poetry

How to best define life? There are thousands of definitions that can be derived from the word “life,” but in essence, life can be best described in a single word: existing. To exist is to live, and living means that there is life. Life is typically associated with any being or organism that is breathing, growing, and changing. Life is the ability to move, the ability to change. In fact, it is life itself that brought into existence love and faith. It can be daunting to talk about life in general through literature. Somehow, Quattlebaum overcame this challenge and summed it up in six words: “Life in the presence of God.” The author took a stance in his book that life is all about living and being a witness to what Christian love and faith are all about. And guess what? Quattlebaum successfully and effectively communicated this message through his poetry books. What better way to express and describe what life is all about than through the mysteriously beautiful arrangement of words that rhyme? What better way to fascinate your readers when talking about life than through poetry?

What is love? What is faith? What is life? There is not one definition that can best describe all three. The interpretation of love, faith, and life is very subjective. Oftentimes, a person’s perception is influenced by the culture and the beliefs that exist around them. Regardless of the meaning, it cannot be underestimated that when love, faith, and life is expressed through the work of poetry, the meaning of these three is then enhanced, amplified, and that it also gives significance to the thought that poetry is a force in literature, a work of art to be reckoned with.