What are the Odds?

 

 

Imagine a carpenter

Teaching a fisherman to fish

Why, that would be like Aladdin

Granting the genie a wish.

 

How could a lawyer

Teach a doctor medicine?

Or, how would an elephant

Teach a human to sing?

 

By way of a vote

In a General Elections

Professionals are advised

By politicians.

 

 

Selected to a Cabinet

By the sitting PM,

Their suddenly acquired expertise

Cause many a problem.

 

So, imagine a carpenter

Teaching fishermen to fish,

In plain Barbadian parlance

We would say “yuh wish”.

 

“He gaw be dreaming”

Or “he out in the sun too long”

Cause he definitely behaving

Like he is a circus clown.

 

What if I could identify

This “circus clown” for you,

Would you swallow your pride

And back down?

 

 

Well, it’s a historic fact

Most of you know about,

Some fishermen went out fishing

And no fish came out.

 

They must’ve been hiding

Cause they caught not one,

Maybe they fished so extensively

That all were gone.

 

A carpenter turned up

And told them what to do

But it did not measure up

To what they knew.

 

But to prove him wrong

They follow his command

Then they had to call out to others

To give them a hand.

 

The nets almost broke

With the weight of the catch,

And then the fishermen discovered

None was his match.

 

 

It was Jesus, the Christ

That created the fish

So, he did not have to close eyes

Then make a wish.

 

Much more than that

They became fishers of men,

It was the carpenter of Nazareth

That taught all of them.

 

More than a carpenter

More than a fisherman,

Jesus is the ever-living Word,

Aka, God’s begotten Son.

 

Stewart Russell © February 27, 2025

 

My Dilemma

 

 

I have a dilemma,

I must return to school,

Come on man, give me a hearing!

I am serious, I am no fool.

 

Forty years as an educator

Imparting what I had learned

And thirteen years prior to that

And now I must unlearn.

 

I must beg your indulgence

As I try to explain myself,

To be quite honest with you

This is affecting my health.

 

Not a problem with Math

At least, not yet,

But a major one with English Language

Which I now have to vet.

 

While back in primary school

I was taught English Language,

Now sixty years thereafter

It’s become difficult to manage.

 

Please, please,

I am getting to the matter,

Just hear me out and after this

I’ll no longer be a bother.

 

As a friend of mine would say

Let us be more specific,

This is about some special pronouns

Including he, she and it.

 

I learnt at school and taught

That ‘he’ is a masculine pronoun

‘She’ is regarded as feminine

And ‘it’ to neither belong.

 

They taught me ‘it’ is neuter

And that I knew for sure,

But neutered keeps on coming up

And I am confused the more.

 

Now these are singular pronouns

But there is the plural case:

Let me now identify these

And this I will do in haste.

 

 

Singular: he, she and it-

Plural: they and them!

I understood this quite readily then

But now I have a problem.

 

Now it seems we aim to please

A certain ‘minority group’

And this my friend, I will tell you,

Is how far we have stooped.

 

They intend to do away

With the ‘he’ and with the ‘she’

And propose that ‘they’ be used inclusively

To accommodate their absurdity.

 

For ‘him’ and ‘her’, I should mention,

We would use the pronoun ‘them’

But for singular and plural

This presents a problem.

 

How would we differentiate

Whether it’s singular or plural?

The way I learnt it back in school

This was rather simple.

 

I say refer to them as ‘it’

If they are neither he nor she

But do not mash up English Language

For this perverted stupidity.

 

So now you see my dilemma

And why I must go back to school,

It’s to unlearn what made sense back then

And now become a fool.

 

Stewart Russell © April 19, 2023

 

A Call to Ministry

 

 

So often we say

We are call to do this or that

As opposed to ministry

Which is the fact.

 

One is called to write

Another is called to preach,

One is called to sing

I am called to teach.

 

The emphasis, therefore,

Is on what I do

As opposed to service

Or ministry in view.

 

Again, it is the “I”

Instead of the community,

No wonder it often breeds

Much disunity.

 

Ministry is what’s critical

And not what one does,

It’s not essentially what we do

But what’s done for Jesus.

 

We vaunt ourselves

And we beat on our chest,

“What I do is key!”

O what a mess!

 

It is a call to ministry,

Not what I do

Whether I am in the pulpit

Or siting in the pew.

 

“Amen!” is a ministry

An encouraging one at that

Especially when what is said

Is a biblical fact.

 

 

It’s a call to service

Using God-given resource

Which more often than not,

Determines our course.

 

Whether I sing

Or whether I preach

Is far less important

Than my outreach.

 

And whether I dance

Or whether I teach

Ministry is the key

In church or the street.

 

So, preachers, cool it

And you teachers too,

It is about ministry

And not about you.

 

It is not the show

That the singers put on

But a call to ministry

So, be warned!

 

Whatever it is we do

We must learn to do it well,

It is our call to ministry

To go and tell.

 

 

Tell of the love of God

And His Son He freely gave

To save you and me

From a Christ-less grave.

 

Tell of how he came

To die upon the cross

To restore to humanity

What was originally lost.

 

Do not be a block

In your God-given ministry,

Let it be Jesus

That your audience sees.

 

It’s a call to ministry,

I repeat,

Whether you’re in the church

Or on the street.

 

Stewart Russell © October 20, 2021

Teaching Is the Best

A teacher is a tool

That uses his tools

To teach someone else

Not to be a fool

Don’t take a teacher lightly

Jesus was one

In fact he was the best

Since creation’s dawn

It is my belief

It is the best career

And making it a vocation

Requires thought and care

It’s not about taking

But more about giving

And at every step

It’s always about living

Everyone is a teacher

Each and every day

But it is the trained teacher

That truly leads the way

He must have a passion

But he also must be trained

As such he makes less mistakes

And causes us less pain

He must have a love

For the teaching career

And to each of his students

He must dedicate his care

Researching and studying

Evaluating and analyzing

And like the goodly doctor

Diagnosing before prescribing

It’s no guessing business

Or one cure fits all

For one to be a teacher

He should have had a call

  

So if you want to be teacher

Just to make some money

That’s the wrong profession

You will be sorry

And if you want to be a teacher

Because the hours appear short

Right now before you start

This is the time to abort

You will burn the midnight oil

And the candle at both ends

And beyond nine till three

You’ll be working hard, my friend

If you want to be a teacher

Because of the vacation time

You’ll need every single minute

For stress will cloud your mind

It’s not a lovely picture

But it’s a rewarding vocation

For at the end of the day

You would have built a nation

You’ll look back and you’ll see

The many you’ve helped to grow

And like the diligent farmer

Bless God for the seeds you sowed

The doctor and the lawyer

The artisan and the artist

Even the teacher and the dancer

Don’t forget the economist

There’s not a single profession

That you would not have touched

And many would shake your hand

In response for giving so much

So if you’re at the crossroads

And you’re wondering what to do

Teaching is a great option

That is my expert view

But only if you’ve considered

All I have said before

If with passion you pursue teaching

For you there’s much in store

Thank all of you for reading

And giving your cellphone a rest

I maintain my former position

Teaching is the best!

Stewart Russell © September 2018

I Am A Teacher

I am a teacher.  I have selected my vocation with pensive care, not so much for what I receive from it, but rather, for the contribution I am able to make.  I contribute to so many lives.  I produce doctors, lawyers, other teachers, artisans, engineers, pilots, presidents and even prime ministers.  Without my input, ours would be a world of lawlessness, aimlessness and utter chaos.

I build families, societies, churches and nations.  My resources are wide and varied, unlimited even.  Can you really begin to imagine a world without me?  There are those times when I am a doctor, lawyer, police, father, mother, nurse and without doubt a counsellor.  I am all of these and more to those placed in my charge.  And believe it, I receive only one salary.  But I do not mind, for without me, no one would even get a salary.

You see, I am not so much concerned about what I get, but what I can give.  If sometime during your life, you have benefitted from a teacher, remember me.  I only do it because I care.  After all, I am a teacher!      

Stewart Russell © 1999