Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "bud-collyer"

With the Whole Heart by Bud Collyer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Biographies mention that radio's Man of Steel Bud Collyer wrote two religious books but had no details on them, so I decided to check them out and found a used copy available on Amazon. With the Whole Heart is the longer of the two books.

It's a composed of five poems around general themes. At it's heart, it's a book about being a good Christian and a good human being. It's a book about hope. Being written in 1966, some would argue the book is dated with its thoughts on communism, but I'd suggest that some of Collyer's words can hold true to the challenges Christians face in our day:

And so if each one of us truly lives
A life of love and tries with all his might
To do the things the Lord would have him do,
Then Communism will never succeed!
We'll kill the lies with everything that's true,
Knowing that God will fill our every need.

Collyer placed his faith in the decline of the Soviet Union not in American military might or the strength of Democracy, but on the strength of the truth of God and the power of God's people living out their faith.

The book is refreshing in many ways. In our culture, we primarily talk about things like faith and politics in prose only, Collyer's use of poetry lends itself to reflection and a different way of thinking about faith.

The challenge with Collyer's poetry is that occasionally his poetry uses less precise words which can be theologically challenge and a few of the rhymes are a bit of a stretch. Still, the book is worth reading for displaying the heart of a man known as a game show host and for playing the Man of Steel. I particularly enjoyed the last section, "What Do We Have to Live For?" If you can find a copy, it's a worthwhile read.



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