The Real Problem

 

The real problem

Is not tackling the real problem

Where the real problem is at.

 

“If you see something

Say something”

Relative to the fact.

 

 

To whom is this counsel?

To the man in the street?

What about getting to the source?

 

The real problem

Is not about tinted windows

And “no tint” enforced.

 

 

“If you see something

Say something”

Relative to the fact.

 

Require this also

Of officials turning blind eye-

Ask Top-Cop about that.

 

 

And the Intelligentsia!

Is there any such in Bim

Or have they been silenced?

 

And if not gagged

Why this sloth re the problem

And the stark reluctance?

 

 

Who’s afraid of whom?

Is there a big bad wolf

That’s invincible and untouchable?

 

Or, more than one,

Sitting in ivory towers

Unbreachable and impregnable?

 

 

 

“If you see something

Say something”

Relative to the fact.

 

Is this just a slogan

Perhaps, a captivating cliché

Regarding some pact?

 

 

 

It is my suspicion

That the source is known

And there is very little doubt…

 

But there is reluctance

For whatever reason there is

To root it out.

 

 

“If you see something

Say something”

Relative to the fact.

 

But the real problem

Is not tackling the real problem

Where the real problem is at.

 

Stewart Russell © September 20, 2024

 

Music Speaks

 

 

Do the animals make music

Other than by instinct?

Do they create musical instruments

And think like humans think?

 

Do they play those instruments

To entertain you or me?

Or do they simply make sounds

Like it always used to be?

 

 

Do they write musical scores

Using staffs and notes

And add key and time signatures

To determine how that music floats?

 

Do they assemble orchestras

And pull together bands

And make sweet melodies

That are heard throughout the land?

 

Do they sing four-part melodies

Both high and low

So that when they are finished

People still want more?

 

Do they choreograph that music

In ways you can’t imagine?

Tell me my evolutionistic friends,

Does any nightingale or pigeon?

 

 

Do animals conduct orchestras

Or direct a band?

Do they sing in choirs and chorales

And stick to the plan?

 

Do they sing soprano and alto

Or tenor and bass?

If you could train them forever

Would there be a hint or a trace?  

 

Do animals do any of these?

Enlighten me please,

Speak up my evolutionistic friends

Now’s not the time to freeze.

Tell me the origin of music

Did it start with that big bang,

Where out of nowhere with nothing

There was a horrendous clang?

 

Music before its Creator

O what a laugh!

That’s like math without numbers

That would be quite daft.

 

Would it not be prudent

Given the order there is in music

To come down on the side

That someone at least originated it?

 

And who would be that someone

If he were not supreme

And around forever

Always “Has Been”?

 

Music points to a creator

Just like everything that is

And that Creator knows the answers

To every conceivable quiz.

 

 

Music points its finger

Back to its creator,

Before Chopin and Beethoven

God is its originator.

 

If music could speak like you or me

It would tell you this is a fact,

Only that you would be so taken in

You wouldn’t be able to answer back.

 

But music does speak

In both bold and plaintive tones,

It speaks to them that rejoice

And to them that mourn.

 

Its genres are varied

With its rhythms and beats

And when you come to appreciate it

It’s of the Creator it speaks.

 

It makes a profound statement

That Yahweh exists,

That He is the supreme intelligence;

It’s another on the list.

 

A list that extends

To the very beginning

When the Supreme Intelligence

Created everything.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

 

 

Everything and Nothing

 

 

Everything is nothing

When nothing is everything,

Sounds kind of nonsensical

But to it I cling.

 

I’ve seen it put differently

But I like it this way

Ever since I had an encounter

With Jesus one day.

 

Everything is nothing

If you haven’t Jesus on board

And nothing is everything

If he’s taken your load.

 

Oft what we strive for

Brings bitterness and strife

And the nothingness and emptiness

Just cripples our life.

Our everything is nothing

When our nothing is everything

And our pretentious smile

Is really a grin.

 

It is clutching at a straw

Like the one we call wealth:

The everything we accumulated

At the expense of health.

 

Health became nothing

As wealth became everything

And now we have everything

We really have nothing.

 

Jesus is everything

Though you may have nothing,

When everything eludes you

You can still sing.

He is my light and salvation

Of him I will sing,

I may have nothing in this world

But I have everything.

 

Everything is nothing

When nothing is everything,

I am sure now you can see

Why to this I cling,

 

Stewart Russell © September 16, 2021

 

 

One with Eternity

 

 

God is one with eternity

Neither came before the other

Neither had a beginning

So no need to bother.

 

God is the eternal being

So are the Spirit and the Word,

None of the three was created

And that is not absurd.

 

In the beginning was the Word

And the Word was God,

So was the Holy Spirit:

The Trinity they are called.

 

Co-essential and co-eternal

Are attributes of all three,

Father, Son and Holy Spirit

The Blessed Trinity.

 

It is not easy to grasp

But the concept is strongly implied,

The Trinity is Bible based

And cannot be denied.

 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Constitute the Eternal One,

These three coexist in eternity

Unlike the gods all gone.

Who made God

Is the question that many pose

Thinking God must have had a beginning

As their argument goes.

 

Then He would be less than God

That we see in the Holy Word

And just like idol worshippers

We too would be absurd.

 

To create an idol and worship it

Is nonsense to the height,

It’s like the blind leading someone

Who still possesses his sight.

 

However, God is the Eternal One

Thus, one with eternity,

He is one but yet three

As expressed in the Trinity.

 

I confess my limitations

And so, I cannot explain,

But if I could, I would be God

And only One can make that claim.

 

That’s God and God alone

Elohim, Jehovah, Yahweh,

The I AM THAT I AM

As Moses was told to say.

The Eternal One

And one with eternity,

Creating time and space and matter

The universal Sovereignty.

 

Not constrained by time

Or contained by the depth of space,

Not defined by earthly matter

Or by the human race.

 

In His image created He them

But He Himself was not created,

The Eternal One is He

Just as the Bible stated.

 

Three-in-One I must repeat

It needs to be emphasized,

The Lord God Jehovah is one God

And there is none besides.

 

One with Eternity

 

Stewart Russell © November 27, 2021

 

In Christ Lies the Answer

 

 

A Wonderful Saviour is Jesus, my Lord

That hymn says it so well,

The Lily of the valley and bright morning star

Another, his attributes tell.

 

The world is in dire need

And it knows not for what,

It strives for perpetual satisfaction

In all the wrong spots.

 

Wealth and fame

Popularity and power

Amidst the turmoil and strife

Every hour on the hour.

 

The tabloids are replete

With news utterly depressing

To the relative exclusion

Of events uplifting.

 

Mass shootings on the rise

And terrorism too,

“There‘s nothing we can do,”

Appears the popular view.

 

But there is an answer

Though it eludes the blinded world,

Its thinkers and builders

Appear not to have heard.

 

From time immemorial

It has fallen on the deaf ears

Of a world at enmity with God

In spite of these fears.

 

 

Jesus is the answer

For the world today,

This song’s message is rejected

And the world continues to pay.

 

Entertainment is its opium

And revelry is mounting,

Numerous believers are participating

But, who is counting?

  

The cost I mean…

Of a single lost soul…

Even among church membership

That are supposedly in the fold.

 

Yes, the coldness is obvious

Regarding the lost,

Once it used be the adage

“Win them at any cost”.

 

Now, it distinctly appears

We must join them to win them…

A notion rather futile

But we don’t see the problem.

 

 

The light of the world is Jesus

Another song we sing

And also “Walking in the Light”

But that’s another thing.

 

Yes, we are the salt

And we are the light

But where is the seasoning?

And where is the spiritual insight?

 

Rescue the perishing

And what about the dying?

The fact that it’s getting darker,

There’s no use denying.

 

There be some who advocate

There’s gonna be a brighter day

But with out Jesus in charge

It will never happen ‘bout hey.

 

A rudderless church

Where once the spiritual hub

Now little different from the world,

Just another social club.

 

Sounds like the Laodicean church

Which had lost its way,

Boasting much but stark naked

In that time and today

 

I could go and on

But the point has been made,

Oft what appears to be solid ground

Ends up being an everglade.

 

On Christ the solid rock we stand

All other ground is sinking sand

And if we are to exit the devil’s maze

We must be led by God’s almighty hand.

 

A mighty fortress is our God

But the arm of flesh will fail,

To trust in man is to be damned

Such trust will not avail.

 

Prayer may be the key

But obedience is the way,

And what God says to us to do

Is far more important on any given day.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2019

 

Life’s Deck of Cards

 

 

From life’s deck of cards

A hand is given to all

And depending on our skillsets

We either stand or fall.

 

Life is called a gamble,

They say it is taking risks,

No wonder that the lottery

Tops many people’s list.

 

It is the best they perceive

Of gaining added cards

Unlike the ones they were given

That make life so hard.

 

We do not get to choose

The original cards we’re given

And some fall on such hard luck

They are initially stricken.

 

Some are Kings or Queens

Potentially from birth

While others appear destined

To be the husks of earth.

 

Some hold an Ace or two

While others have none

And this game that we call life

For the latter is no fun.

 

Some may hold a Jack

What a terrible curse!

Others may be holding two;

This is even worse.

  

Of course, we have Clubs

And we also have Spades

And if Diamonds are forever

A great life is made.

 

Last but not least

We have beating Hearts

And once they keep on beating

We can soar like a lark.

 

 

Seven cards are given

And these without choice,

The others you can accumulate

If you listen to the voice.

 

The voice of conscience

That is your inner-self,

That moral compass for living

Now rusting on the shelf.

 

That tells you who is King

And who is Jack, the knave

And who makes you to be a prince

Rather than be a slave.

 

Whatever your hand today

Let the King manage it,

He is the only true Ace you have

And He has the best script.

 

And not only for this life

But also, for eternity,

Without the faking and bluffing

And the con-artistry.

 

 

Take your hand of cards

And hand it over to Jesus;

The one who created Adam

From a handful of dust.

 

Make him your Ace today

With him you need no other,

Jesus will be your winning hand

And life will be no bother.

 

Whatever cards you’ve got

He can create a miracle,

He has done the same, I know,

For millions of people.

 

Stewart Russell © June 16, 2024

 

Leave Nothing for After

 

 

 

The older I get

The more I become intrigued,

By expressions like the title,

I’m intrigue indeed!

 

Leave nothing for after

While there is time,

Do what you have to do

Comes to my mind.

 

The norm is to procrastinate

With I can do it after,

There is no need to rush it

There is always later.

 

Do not leave back anything

Is another way to say it,

Eat it all at one time,

Leave not a bit.

 

It may have been work

Or it may have been food

Leave nothing for after means

Get on the move.

 

In the preceding explanation

Nothing is something

But now we come to a case

Where nothing is nothing.

 

Not as mad as you are,

You see I can hear you think,

I am nowhere near the edge

But you’re over the brink.

 

Back to the issue, though,

Let us forget this aside,

Next time your thoughts interrupt

I will let it ride.

 

 

Leave nothing for after

Simply means leave nothing,

Nothing is what you leave

Just leave nothing.

 

Leave nothing for me

Means positively nothing,

It is like, “What do you want?”

And my reply is, “Nothing.”

 

So, nothing can be nothing

Or nothing can be something,

And it can get so ridiculous

It could be anything.

 

Leave nothing for after

Or, do not leave anything,

You see, nothing can be nothing

Or it can be something.

 

If you must leave something

Let it be nothing,

I mean positively nothing

Not negatively anything.

 

I hear your thoughts again!

“He has nothing to do.”

But this nothing is something

And you are reading it too.

 

It’s nothing you are reading

That makes it something,

However, if you are not reading it

Then I’ve achieved nothing.

 

Leave nothing for after

And you’ll leave nothing to chance,

Leave nothing for after

And you’d likely advance.

 

Stewart Russell © October 15, 2021