The Rodgers Family Poet Laureate

Robin entered a poetry contest at BYU and she won!

The theme or prompt was "The education of the whole soul".

By Study and By Faith
By Robin Rodgers

The beauty in nature,
The vibrant hues of the seasons
And of vegetation,
The breathless sight of the sky
Whether cloudless and bright
Or monstrous and stormy
Or black and filled with stars,
The majesty of mountains
And sloping fields alike,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is an artist.

The perfection of our planet,
The balance of the seasons,
The way rain, sun, and plants
Work together to create life,
The strength of our bodies
And their ability to fight illness
And extract nutrition from food
And pump blood
And breathe,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a scientist.

The thought behind His plan,
The possibility for men and God
To interact,
The necessity for opposition in all things,
The ability for temporal
And spiritual things to coexist,
His gospel and the logic
That makes eternal laws work,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a Philosopher.

The patterns of the past,
The instruction given
From ancient records
Whether scriptural or not
And the way they apply so easily
To the present and future,
His personal delight in records kept
And genealogy studied,
Has led me to believe that
The Lord is a great historian.

And if God once was as I am
And I may become as He is,
Should I not be vigilant in
Becoming all of these things?

So I will rise from the dust
And will now and forever
Strive for a higher education
Of the whole world,
Of my whole mind,
Of my whole soul.