Tod Truettner, author of Creation to Christ: Poems and Prayers for the Journey of Faith, was recently interviewed by CBS Radio’s Benji Cole on People of Distinction. In their conversation, Truettner opened up not just about his book’s origin, but about the rhythm of how faith and poetry dance together in his life.
People of Distinction, hosted by Benji Cole (and co-hosted by his father, Al Cole), is a platform known for allowing authors to go deeper, to tell more than the cover will. Truettner’s interview fit that promise: instead of a rehearsed pitch, listeners got a glimpse into his heart, his process, and the quiet places where his poems were born.
In Creation to Christ, Truettner takes us on a spiritual arc stretching from the dawn of creation to the hope of Christ. But hearing him speak, it becomes clear: his poems weren’t constructed in some lofty vacuum. They came from long mornings of reflection, late nights of wrestling, and the steady whisper of God in everyday life. In the interview, he mentions how certain lines (some prayers) would come to him unexpectedly, almost unbidden, and he would jot them down. Over time, those fragments began to align, forming a larger portrait of faith.
One moment in the interview stood out: Truettner described the way a certain sunrise moved him to write a poem on the spot, how beauty sometimes demands response. That impulse is woven throughout Creation to Christ. The collection feels like a gallery of moments, each poem a window into the sacred in the ordinary: the first light, the hush before dawn, the aching voids, and the soft hope of redemption.
But he doesn’t shy away from the tension. In talking about Creation to Christ, Truettner acknowledges doubt, grief, the darkness that sometimes feels too close. He says he wanted the book to be honest, to carry both praise and lament, because faith, he feels, is not about erasing the hard parts but walking through them with open hands. That honesty is what gives the poems their power.
Author Tod Truettner is a poet and theologian whose writing invites readers into the deep places of faith, struggle, and hope. His debut work, Creation to Christ, offers a journey through prayer and poetry that seeks to awaken the soul to God’s presence from the beginning of time to the promise of redemption.
With a Doctor of Theology and a career spent leading in environmental health and safety, Tod brings a voice that is both grounded and visionary, rooted in the realities of daily life while always reaching toward the eternal.
Beyond writing, Tod finds joy in music, in shaping wood and metal with his hands, and in the quiet strength of the outdoors. Whether crafting, playing, or walking beneath open skies, he draws inspiration from creation itself, letting its beauty and resilience echo through his words.
Stylistically, Truettner’s voice is straightforward, but not flat. He uses accessible images (light, earth, breath) yet these carry depth. In conversation, he laughs about how sometimes a poem seems too small, too simple, but then “you realize it’s the small ones that reach you in the dark.” That humility bleeds into the work, so you don’t feel intimidated; you feel invited.
At whatever age you are, whether just starting your faith journey or walking it for decades, there’s something in these pages for you. This isn’t a treatise or a theological textbook. It’s a companion. It wants to be picked up on a morning when your soul is quiet, or in a night when your faith feels fragile. One poem, one prayer, one breath at a time.
For anyone who loves words, who leans in toward mystery, who has asked big questions in a small room, Creation to Christ: Poems and Prayers for the Journey of Faith is a gift. And if you want to hear the way Truettner talks about it, how his voice breaks on some lines, how he smiles when he recalls a specific moment of inspiration, the full interview is a beautiful window into that heart behind the pages.
Get to know more about the author and the work as you listen to the full interview below: