Last week, for my weekly spiritual reflection, I talked about Tolkien. This week I want to share the poem I wrote for the professor who let me write the disastrous paper that wasn’t. He then told me he was a comparative religion professor and he found this poem quite insightful. It seems to speak to this present time because it was all about balancing the more conservative (things must be preserved!) with the more liberal (things must change as we change!) aspects of religion. And tying it together with a scientifically minded bow.
What do other people do in their spare time?
Gravity
| missed by a mile, miss your smile. misunderstood about half your words. i did promise, this time i would not force a rhyme. no matter, at any rate, i know i am and we are | still |
| held in the corona. it may be folly to try to explain the inexplicable or to deny the irresistible but like a paradox, you whisper, Take heart, even this dark energy cannot rip it all apart. and we are no more trapped or free than the sun is | still. |
| held through my efforts to fill this cavity or cleanse it of depravity, i miss by miles light-years, degrees, Your colons, Your right parentheses. |
😉
Anne Higa 
Happy IWSG Day, Anne! Your poem is beautiful. I love the image of being held in the corona. I had to go back and read your Tolkien piece because I was deeply impacted by LOTR and have read it more than several times. I also studied it at university ~ Well Tolkien and the other Inklings. I’m not fond of allegory, but I did enjoy the Narnia books. I find Lewis’s “Mere Christianity” and other writings compelling. Have you read Tolkien’s “Tree and Leaf?” In the story “Leaf by Niggle” I found the themes of mercy and justice fascinating and much hope in the idea that beyond death we might realize our higher artistic selves. The other part of “Tree and Leaf” is Tolkien’s famous essay “On Fairy-Stories.” Tolkien said that fairy-stories were the highest form of literature because their writers were sub-creators, creating fantasy worlds and expressing the divine in them by becoming creators reflecting God and creation. I’m not expressing this very well, because it’s been a long day and I have many blog visits to go. But I loved both of your posts!