Beryl

 

 

I knew quite a few Beryls

But none as threatening as this,

Given all the news we’re receiving

This Beryl tops the list.

 

She is storming right now

Heading directly for Bim

And by the time she reaches here

She’ll be a powerful wind.

 

A category 2 or 3 hurricane

Is no longer a storm,

It is looking quite grim right now

Fellow citizens, be warned!

 

Beryl is different, I tell you,

Coming this early in June,

Not veering north like most storms

But a southerly typhoon.

 

 

 

Like Janet in this regard

Way back in 1955

And the conditions in our waters

Causing her to thrive.

 

Here are two things to do:

Prepare and pray,

And as you do this for yourself

Help somebody in the way.

 

For there’s no guarantee

Even when you pray,

Trust God regardless of outcomes

For this is the best way.

 

Some will rebuke Beryl

And order her back to hell,

For those who will pray in this way

I can only wish them well.

 

This Beryl is not a friend

So do not take a chance

Believing prayer will turn her away

Or even halt her advance.

 

Notice how outside feels?

The calm before the storm?

Take it seriously, I would advise;

Again, I say be warned.

 

Those that often yearn

To experience a hurricane,

Beryl’s a chance you will this time;

She could be insane.

 

A category 2 or 3 hurricane

Is nothing to long for,

Yearning to experiencing such

Is like inviting a war.

 

Beryl, I really wish

That you would stay away,

You’re nothing like any Beryl I knew

On any given day.

 

Your intent is to damage

While their intent was to help

But then again you can never feel

The way any Beryl felt.

 

 

Dear God I now pray

For all within Beryl’s scope,

However grim things may seem

In You is our hope.

 

Protect us from Beryl,

From the scourge of her wind

And help us to trust in you, Lord,

Even as the light grows dim.

 

Help the elderly and sick

That are on their own

And be a comfort and companion

To those who are alone.

 

Thanks for these heads-up

Re this oncoming storm,

And help us to act in accordance

With having been warned.

 

This I ask in Jesus’ name

For all and sundry alike

And as we traverse this experience,

Order our steps aright.

 

Stewart Russell © June 29, 2024

 

Are We for Real?

 

From where I sit

I do a lot of thinking,

Sometimes not very constructive

But I think we are sinking.

 

Sinking in so many ways

I am amazed

But hoping, hopefully not hopelessly

It is a passing phase.

 

Tremendous reform

Albeit in talking and planning,

Meanwhile, as far as I can see,

Little positive happening.

 

Constitution reform

And social reform,

Add to the mix education reform

And public service reform.

 

Meanwhile what has been built

Is now left to lag

And as usual, only a few

Have so-called reason to brag.

 

Partisan blindness

And mounting narcolepsy

Driven by myriad promises

And abject apathy.

 

A false sense of wellbeing

Amidst the swelling strife

Particularly among the “better off”

In their so-called better life.

 

How long I ask, how long,

Before reform takes some shape?

How much more, I ask,

Can the most vulnerable take?

 

 

Living on promises

Like a car running on fumes,

Petrol long gone from the tank

And no wriggle room.

 

Looking forward to a harvest

With the hope of trickle down

While living in a fairy tale world

Managed by clowns.

 

All schools being equal

Except for the student intake,

Some making it to paradise

Others, just to the gate.

 

Yes, all schools are equal

But some more equal than others

And the equal ones at the bottom

Causing us a bother.

 

If the schools are equal

School children where they live,

Goodness gracious, even I can see this

And my brain is a sieve.

 

A lousy attempt at zoning

And persisting with the same,

Daring to expect a different result-

Tell me, isn’t this insane?

 

 

Pecking order established

From a long time ago

And whose children will go where?

Both you and I know.

 

It bothers me a whole lot

Re our student disbursement

In which some schools are stifled

And others given entitlement.

 

And the measuring rod used

Is a single assessment

Of English and Mathematics

With questionable intent.

 

With similar courses of study

Each school must be competitive

And irrespective of student intake

Must use their initiative.

 

Top order or bottom order

It makes no difference,

They must do competitively well

At the Ministry’s insistence.

 

Those who have it

And those who clearly lack it

Must produce simultaneously

Though some ill equipped.

 

The comparisons are rife

From school to school

But to expect good results from all

Is the folly of a fool.

 

Are we for real

Expecting blood from a stone

And putting plasters on crises

That are full-blown?

 

Are we for real

Regarding the crime scene

Tapping ourselves on the shoulders

Re what should have been?

 

Because what is current

Is not the promise made

And given all the talking and planning

We have blatantly failed.

 

Tackling the problem

At the point of the outcome

But seemingly afraid to touch those

That bring in the guns.

 

Similarly with drugs;

It’s the youngster with the spliff

But drug barons and importers

Hiding in our midst.

 

Anonymous?  I doubt it

But apparently so,

But then again, if you ask me,

Who am I to know?

 

Constitution reform

Promised since Election 2022,

Haven’t been hearing much on this

Have you?

 

Are we for real

Thinking everybody is blind

And cannot see the short change

And that we’re in a bind?

 

Answer me this question

Re the most vulnerable,

Are they in any better a position

Or in more trouble?

 

Come focus with me

On the increasing poverty

Not on the international façade

That is our country.

 

From outside we are a house

Appearing freshly painted

But its occupants with hardships

Are daily acquainted.

 

Are we for real

Believing that plaster is a cure

When after many years of negligence

Maintenance was ignored.

 

It’s like in with the new

And out with the old

But the new is not quite ready

Is the story we are told.

 

So that while we await reform

What we have is dying

And the leadership pontificates

On how hard they are trying.

 

It’s like building a bridge

To be suspended in midair

With absolutely nothing to support it

But this, obviously not clear.

 

 

And the church in all this

Speaks of an apathy

That says Jesus will soon return

Hence, no need to worry.

 

Are we for real

Or is it nothing to you

Dear leaders of our fair land

What the poor are going through?

 

 

 

The T20 World Cup has come

And it is almost gone,

Come Saturday, God willing

It will be game on.

 

In just a few hours

The final will have ended,

A relative few will have benefitted

But most will be offended.

 

A few will be singing

While counting their profits

But the poor and most vulnerable

Will struggle as of habit.

 

We are in this together

Often says the PM

But her challenges are nothing

Like poor people problem.

 

Whence the next meal

The children to send school

And this is not the exception;

This is the rule.

 

Whose children are failing?

Mainly poor people’s,

The wealthy and the better off

Are not so troubled.

 

 

Are we for real?

My question to the elected,

Will you continue towards the future

The present being neglected?

 

Is it nothing to you

All you that pass by

Seemingly unaware and uncaring

When the vulnerable sigh?

Yes, you kings and queens

How about the pawns?

Will the pawns be any better off

After World Cup is gone?

 

After World Cup is Gone

Life will go on

But many will still face the night

Hoping for a dawn.

 

A dawn that is elusive

A dawn repeatedly promised,

A dawn natural to a select few

But to most a myth.

 

Stewart Russell © June 27, 2024

 

A Logical Absurdity

  

 

 

An oxymoron, you may say,

Is a logical absurdity

But it makes sense in a way

Even if it is lunacy.

 

The dumb and fallacious

Are not necessarily the same:

One may be deliberately so;

The other insane.

 

So that a logical absurdity

May appeal to both

Like the Big Bang for example

Of which atheists boast.

 

Let’s look at some examples

Of a logical absurdity,

I will start with the computer-

Awesome creativity!

 

 

From the size of a room

To the now wide-spread PC,

Affordable to a few not long ago

Now accessible to many.

 

Created by a brain

That is far superior to its own

And over just a few decades,

Note how it has grown.

 

It was not the creation

Of some mindless entity

For to even believe such nonsense

Is logical absurdity.

 

Or take the intricacies

Of a single human cell

With all its DNA infrastructure

And the story it tells!

 

 

If you say random chance

And you do so seriously

Then I say such absolute idiocy

Must be a logical absurdity.

 

Yes, absurd and logical

At one and the same time

Must speak to some brilliant person

Who has lost his mind.

 

Whereas he has a brain

And whereas he thinks foolishly

Me thinks the evidence points

To a logical absurdity.

 

 

Then let us take the brain

Of a so-called moron,

Re such and the best computer

There is no comparison.

 

The information in a single cell

Is absolutely astounding

Far less the entirety of the brain

With its God-given wiring.

 

Darwin was logical

There is absolutely no doubt

But his first cause was an absurdity

And must be thrown out.

 

Thus, a logical absurdity

Is what evolutionists advance,

They get to where we are at

Via random chance.

 

 

 

The dice were set rolling

By an initiator known as chance,

Now you know the absurdity

That some will advance.

 

Now for the equation

And the solution to the problem

It will be baffling, I caution you,

To both adults and children.

 

To be logical and absurd

Equals a logical absurdity,

Evolution requires far more faith

Than God’s creativity.

 

Stewart Russell © September 21, 2023

Spiritual Bullying

 

 

Spiritual bullying!

Where can this be found?

In the church of course,

There is much around.

 

Mostly senior members,

Not necessarily in age

But with responsibility and clout

Re pulpit and stage.

 

They follow the Spirit,

At least, that’s what they say

And it matters not who’s in charge

They will have their way.

 

They alter the plan

Feigning the Spirit’s leadership

And they bully the congregants

And church membership.

 

Urging an emotive display

Of shouting and raised hands

And even the person in charge

Must heed their command.

 

 

The time is ignored,

Time consciousness is rebuked,

All had better fall into line,

Don’t dare refute.

 

Refusing to comply

Is being disobedient to God

Thus, therein lies the fear factor

When such a one calls.

 

It may be an apostle

A bishop or a pastor,

Or it could even be a worship leader

Or a prayer intercessor.

 

The Chair is ignored,

The programme is put on hold

And I wonder how such persons

Can be so bold.

 

You are forced to stand

As worship leaders lead

For sometimes close to an hour

While your feet plead.

 

Whether the old or the young,

It does not really matter

For if the seniors decide to sit down

They are blocked by the latter.

 

And if there is prayer

Immediately after this session

Depending on the intercessor

There could be more oppression.

 

O how I wish

We would do as assigned

Rather than take over the service

As if by design!

 

The people who planned

Planned with the Holy Spirit,

Who gives spiritual bullies the right

To just come and change it?

 

I know things can change

But this need not be the norm

The exception is enough,

Please be warned.

 

Follow the Spirit’s lead,

Don’t get me wrong

But don’t ignore the chairperson

And put him down.

 

You would not like it

If you were the chair person,

So, to claim the Spirit’s unction,

Is not a genuine reason.

 

 

Of spiritual bullies

You had better beware

But don’t be intimidated by them

And be driven by fear.

 

Spiritual bullying!

There is much around

And in virtually every church

It may be found.

 

Stewart Russell © April 30, 2024

 

This Tongues Thing

 

 

A cut above the rest

Depending on the gift you get,

If it is prophecy or tongues

You are fairly well set.

 

Especially in these days

As we are coming to the end,

Prophecy is the gift that tells one

What is around the bend.

 

“Tongues” is a conversation

Between a person and God,

Nobody knows what was said

Including the one called.

 

No better informed

Are the listeners in this case

But everybody gets into the act

At least merely to save face.

 

It is a skill I have been told

That can easily be taught,

Open your mouth and believe

And the miracle is wrought.

 

I’ve heard of certain schools

That teach tongues by the phrase

And for a nominal fee, of course,

The learner would be amazed.

 

 

 

It is very impressive

To hear a speaker of tongues,

Especially the very fluent ones

That are around.

 

Some will give a phrase

Others will go on for a while

Leaving the listener enchanted

As though a little child.

 

A sure sign of the Spirit

And for some, the only one,

If you’ve not spoken in tongues

You are not truly reborn.

 

I mean “born in the Spirit”:

“Experiencing the new birth”,

A work that comes from heaven

And experienced on earth.

 

If this is really the case

Then I would have to be lost,

Never have I spoken in tongues

Thus, I am short on the cost.

 

 

 

I’ve no witness of the Spirit

If “tongues” is the witness

And like the unsaved non-believer,

I am still in sin’s mess.

 

This tongue thing is trouble

When taken out of context,

No wonder many Christian believers

Find life so complex.

 

They dabble in many things

That they do not understand

Rather than with faith in the Word

Stick to the divine plan.

 

If the charismatic giftings

Are causing us to focus on men

Then I dare say without apology

We have a huge problem.

 

If speaking in tongues

Puts us above all others

Then salvation is of no saving effect

And is become a bother.

 

 

 

If you are representing me

Before the Lord’s throne,

Please speak in the English language

That from a boy I have known.

 

I mean no offence

And I genuinely say so long

But I get no spiritual upliftment

When you speak in tongues.

 

Stewart Russell © September 14, 2023