A Compendium of Problems

 

 

Life is really a problem

With many a problem involved

Hence, we must be problem solvers

If we must get life solved.

 

It’s not for the faint of heart

That give up so easily,

Instead, it will take much courage

To compete successfully.

 

 

It’s a compendium of problems

That the living has to solve,

A turntable of problems maybe

Around which life revolves.

 

Time is of the essence

Which in itself is a problem,

So that haste must be made sensibly

To find its adequate solutions.

 

It has been proven suicidal

To many a competitor

Who, having been overwhelmed,

Became a no-survivor.

 

 

Life is a veritable minefield

Even from life-conception

And gynecologists are on red alert

Bent on problem detection.

 

From the womb to the tomb,

This is the nature of life

And it takes problem solving skills

To manage its varied strife.

 

It’s a compendium of problems

For some, more than others

And without the luck of the draw

It can be a colossal bother.

 

That’s why it is necessary

To have Jesus in one’s life,

For with the infinite problem solver

We can navigate the strife.

 

 

It is not the problems of life

But invariably how to navigate,

There is a much better chance for us

If on Jesus we wait.

 

Stewart Russell © June 16, 2024

 

Attention and A Tension

 

 

Let me call your attention

To a matter of great apprehension

That requires your comprehension

And which I must surely mention.

 

Attention and a tension:

They sound alike but are different,

The former is a call to pay heed

The latter has a different bent.

 

Life is a myriad of tensions

With an attempt at bringing balance,

Several opposites occupy our attention

And oft on a thin beam we dance.

 

Whether to do this or do that

Should I do it now or delay?

Which is the best decision to make?

And, am I going the right way?

 

A tension between good and evil

A tension betwixt right and wrong,

To be vaccinated or not to be vaccinated,

On which side should the gavel come down?

 

 

Situations that require our attention

Creating a bind and a tension,

Hindrances to our planned progression

Forcing us into submission.

 

A tension regarding one’s vocation

More so with this COVID dislocation,

Forced into mental resignation

Now without a job or compensation.

 

 

Like a tightly taut rubber-band

Stretched out from end to end,

Those ends moving further and further away

And driving you around the bend.

 

Trying to make ends meet

As the saying is often expressed

But though given the earnest attention,

A tension brings on distress.

 

 

A tension that is constantly mounting

A weird feeling at the temple and neck,

Urgently requiring psychiatric attention

To avert the looming threat.

 

Attention and a tension:

The latter urgently requiring the former

To bring some balance to the situation

And satisfactorily resolve the matter.

 

Give attention to your tensions

Always striving to find solutions,

Lack of attention can exacerbate a tension

And lead to distressing complications.

 

Stewart Russell © December 5, 2020

 

Let’s Listen

 

If everybody’s talking

Then who is really listening?

Recommendations and suggestions

And none to do the bidding.

 

A serious state of affairs

Presses down upon our world

And everybody has the remedy

But no talker can be heard.

 

Hence a world full of remedies

But none can be applied

To the many and varied problems

There’s none to stem the tide.

 

If everybody keeps talking

Then who will be left to listen?

One mouth and two ears

Has certainly gone out of fashion.

 

The ears automatically turn off

Whenever the mouth is engaged

And it will get decidedly worse

As long as mouth keeps up its rage.

 

It’s the problem with the world

As we confront our many problems,

From everyone a solution

Expressed with fervent passion.

 

My point is heard above yours

And therefore you are forced to shout

And while the noises crescendo

Nothing is being worked out.

 

If everybody’s talking

Whose ears will hear God’s word?

No wonder when there’s a lull

Some remark they haven’t heard.

 

For nobody wants to listen

As long as they want to be heard

For what the other has to say

Is nothing short of absurd.

 

  

Two ears to hear the spoken word

And one mouth to share the lot,

Listen twice as much implied

But that message has missed its spot.

 

Ineffective talk is noised around

As we operate in the reverse

And the problems considerably rise

As though indicating a curse.

 

Will I listen?  Will you listen?

Will we curb the incessant talk?

Not to the extent of becoming mute

But of improving the way we walk?

 

Nobody’s listening is an indictment

It’s a bill against you and me,

We’re all to blame for the state we’re in

We’re not acting responsibly.

 

 

We must listen twice as much

That is, twice as much as we speak

And be willing to give an ear to another

If a genuine solution we seek.

 

Stewart Russell © January 2020