Struggling with Faith

In honor of Soren Kierkegaard's lesser feast tomorrow, I would like to share a recent poem about struggling with faith. Kierkegaard wrote a lot about struggling with faith and what faith is. He thought about faith as a passion. Sometimes metaphor is the most helpful way to go. 

Faith

Faith seems
Like kind of a bitch
You think you know her well
And all of a sudden she's gone
Leaving behind her bipolar sister
Doubt, who requires constant tending
Yet after all the hospice care
All the tears and broken prayers
When Faith waltzes back in
It's like sun shining through the cracks
Of six months of stormy clouds
And of course, you welcome her back
With open arms, not believing your luck
Ready to throw the grandest of grand
Celebrations in her honor
Naturally, only after some time,
Do you realize you're still pushing her sister
Around in the wheelchair
Everywhere you go
Complain, yes you do, occasionally mightily
But always when you curl up at night
You're grateful she's there
Like it or not


(Think about the ending of the poem: which sister is it referring to? Interestingly, I think it works both ways. Go poetry!)