It’s Happening Again

 

 

Here I am again

With this longing to write

But as has happened before

Nothing’s in sight.

 

Nothing on the horizon

Or even beyond,

Maybe I should stop here

And be gone.

 

But it’s a challenge

That I must overcome,

Some idea will come along

Before I am done.

 

Writer’s block?  Nah!

There are so many topics,

I just want to move away

From what is habit.

 

 

I just came on an idea

Let me see if I can work it,

When I have expressed it

Then you can edit.

 

Is God still doing

Or has God already done?

I’d love to have your thoughts

On this precise one.

 

God is a planner

All can see this is a fact,

Having set things in motion

Why would He look back?

 

As though He is man

And does not know in full

Thus, has to make adjustments

Like ordinary people.

 

God who is proactive

Has put everything in place,

No fallaciousness in Him

No, not a trace.

 

 

God’s will be done

As the prayer clearly states,

He alone already knows

What is our fate.

 

As said in another place

All’s history in God’s eyes,

That He knows everything

Is no surprise.

 

God doesn’t have to do

Having already done,

Battles past present and future

He has already won

 

The doing is the Spirit’s

As he directs to the cross,

Another tick in the Book of Life

For no longer lost.

 

It is happening again

Across the whole wide world,

Not my occasional block

But the Gospel is heard.

 

 

Another checked off

That has come home,

Calling safe and election sure;

Nevermore to roam.

 

Stewart Russell © January 16, 2024

 

Just One of Those Times

 

 

Just one of those times

When I feel I should write

But there’s a problem here

For nothing is in sight.

 

Just one of those times

No topic on my mind,

There’s none I can find

None to which I am inclined.

 

Yet I am drawn to write

A poem of sorts,

If nothing comes soon

I’d be forced to abort.

 

Even all like now

As I type verse number four

There is no inspiration

But I’ll try some more.

Have patience I am told

Maybe something will unfold,

I am not warming to the task

Everything is cold.

 

This is verse number six

Still trying to get the right mix,

Really stretching my mind now

But can’t get out of this fix.

 

Any suggestion you can give

I’d readily welcome,

If it doesn’t come soon

You can bet I’ll be done.

 

Well it’s too late now

I am packing it up,

Writing without inspiration

Is certainly not my cup.

 

It was only recently

A good friend made a request

But I told her unless I am inspired

I cannot give my best.

 

“But you write well,” she said,

“It should be very easy for you.”

I reiterated, “Unless I am inspired

I cannot do what you require.”

 

That’s similar to right now;

I feel a need to write

But no matter how hard I try

Nothing comes out right.

So before I repeat myself

And bore you half to death

I’ll just repeat verse one

And wish you the best of health.

 

It’s just one of those times

When I feel I should write

But there’s a problem here

For nothing is in sight.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2017

 

Writer's Block

 

 

 

At least twice a year

With this I come face to face,

I know I need to write

But of what, I cannot trace.

 

It is four days now

I have not typed a stroke

Hence, I feel a little guilty

Since last I wrote.

 

On the other occasions

I just decided to write

And before long it was “Aha!”

An issue came to light.

 

Up to now, however,

Nothing is beginning to gel

Yet there are many topics today

On which the people dwell.

 

 

Elections is one of them

COVID is still in the air,

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate

Is still creating some fear.

 

A very good friend of mine

Just went to the great beyond

And he is very much on my mind

Every awaking dawn.

 

He has caused my block,

He dominates my thoughts

And I dare say for four days now

I’ve been quite distraught.

 

 

It doesn’t seem real

That he has passed away

And denial plagues my thoughts

Each and every day.

 

 

A reminder of the year 2017

And a repeat of 2018

When two equally dear friends

Departed from this scene.

 

They died relatively suddenly

At the age of fifty-nine,

And that's the age my friend Stephen

Also completed his time.

 

 Pearline, Michael and Stephen,

Three friends at age fifty-nine:

“A turn on life's road with a pothole"

Suggested a friend of mine.

 

It was at age fifty-nine

That he too had a serious bump

But the grim reaper lost the battle

And was temporarily trumped.

Another friend of Stephen

Is now particularly concerned,

He too is at age fifty-nine,

“Could he be next in turn?”

 

It is amazing, my friend,

How we sometimes think

And these obsessive tendencies

Can drive us to the brink.

 

It’s "one day at a time" for me

In addition to "wait and see",

My times are in the Lord’s hand

And what will be will be.

 

 

That may sound fatalistic,

If so, I am guilty as accused

But this one thing I know quite well,

Jesus, I’ll never refuse.

 

A daily choice we make

Is that of acceptance or rejection:

A choice of death or eternal life,

It is a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision.

 

‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to the Lord Jesus,

‘Yes’ or ‘No’ to redemption,

Age fifty-nine is not the issue

The issue is one’s salvation.

 

  

Hey!  It is gone!

My writer's block is gone!

I started where I knew not where

But God has brought me on.

 

All credit to Him I give

Now and forevermore,

For even when my mind goes awry

It’s in Jesus Christ I soar.

 

Stewart Russell © January 13, 2022

 

Thimk!

If you saw it at the first

You’d know what it should be,

If you didn’t and you are honest

By now you should see.

I am just asking that you think-

The “n”, and not the “m”

As you read this little note

That I am about to send.

It’s one of those times again

When I have writer’s block,

I sense a need that I should write

But in my mind is not a lot.

I am pushing myself to think

Hence, the title of this poem,

If you saw the “m” up there

You know my problem.

I recall a certain math class

When I was still at school,

On the board a teacher wrote “Thimk”

And I thought that was so cool.

I was one of the first to see it

And I drew it to his attention

Whereupon he changed the “m”

And replaced in with an “n”.

That day I felt very smart

But that was where it stopped,

As you and I very well know

Mathematics is not my slot.

Yes, I heard that “What!”

And I heard that gasp,

I notice I had fooled you too

But that will soon pass.

  

I know very little math

But what I know I teach well,

My spelling is not that great either

But I guess you can tell.

I trust you have thought out

What I am trying to say,

Whatever you can do,

Do it in the best way.

If it is correcting people

Simply do it in love,

Just like our Heavenly Father

That lives above.

Don’t ever be boastful

Or be proud of heart,

This is not a good course to charter

So, don’t you even start.

Instead “think” as you go along,

It’s like thinking on your feet

And if the “m” crops up

Just strike delete.

This is a simple poem,

In which I have not said a lot

But if you saw “think” when it was “thimk”

Then you too had a block.

Stewart Russell © April 2020