Which Rebuilt Temple?

 

 

 

I hear of a rebuilt temple,

I mean one to come

Where the Jews will worship

In a millennium kingdom.

 

It’s after the tribulation

When the Jews will be gathered in,

And all of them in a single day

Will be saved from their sin.

 

It bothers me, though,

If this is really true,

Then for whom did Jesus die?

This question is to you.

 

When he said, it was finished

What did he really mean?

What was it that was finished,

If not the old covenant theme?

 

If the blood sacrifices were types

And the physical temple a shadow,

Why rebuild a new temple?

Please tell me; I want to know.

 

 

If the middle wall of partition

Was really broken down,

Then on the idea of a new temple

We ought to frown.

 

I like the Sunday school song

We sang so long ago,

It conveyed an understanding

That I think we need to know.

 

“We’re building up a temple

We’re building up a temple

We’re building up a temple of the Lord,

Hey brother, won’t you help?

Hey sister, won’t you help?

We’re building up a temple of the Lord.”

 

1 Peter 2:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16

 

What is the nature of this temple?

It’s a temple not made with hands,

But a temple of lively stones:

A spiritual house, as God planned.

 

To offer up spiritual sacrifices

Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,

We, as lively stones, are God’s temple

Ever since his finished sacrifice.

 

The disciples once went to Jesus

To show him the temple structure

And no doubt, they were disappointed,

As he showed them the sad picture.

 

Not one stone, he said then,

Would be left upon another,

As he foretold the temple’s destruction

The disciples were clearly bothered.

 

They equated this with Jesus’ return

And the end of the world,

“When shall these things be?” they asked,

They were clearly perturbed.

 

The temple was the centre-piece

That is all that they knew,

Just like the ark of the covenant

It was security to the Jew.

 

The temple with its sacrifices

Was coming to its end,

The old covenant would pass away

And this was around the bend.

 

 

This was the rebuilt temple

From back in Persian times

And its destruction, after Herod’s upgrade,

Would be a significant sign.

 

It was a splendid edifice

Of which the Jews were proud

But not long after Jesus’ prophecy

Its destruction would be loud.

 

The end of the Mosaic covenant

The end of the blood sacrifice,

Another would become the focus

And that would be Jesus Christ.

 

So, when I hear of a rebuilt temple

I really have to ask, “Which one?”

It can’t be one in our future

For the temple worship has gone.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

Unconditional Love

 

 

What do I know about it?

Little, if anything,

What’s the quality of my practice?

In this, I am lacking.

 

Sounds kind of hollow

Whenever I hear it,

My example and what daily I see

Is a not a habit.

 

I still struggle with self

More than I should

And tell me if I could do better

You know I would.

 

Yes, I often talk to myself

Trying to convince me

That I am doing the best I can

But not truthfully.

 

Unconditional love

What is your grade?

I can tell you that as for myself,

Mine is a FAIL!

 

Don’t you begin to think

I am hard on myself

For of all the photos in my mind

I’m # 1 on my shelf.

 

You may say I am honest

Given my analysis

Because I have openly confessed

I am first on my list.

 

But admitting to guilt

Should not me excuse

Or anyone else, for that matter,

If the wrong they choose.

 

It is practically not easy:

Unconditional love,

Though Jesus demonstrated it

When he came for above.

 

 

There is absolutely no self

In unconditional love,

For you that scored yourself high

That’s what I’m talking of.

 

I am seeing the adjustment

You are already making,

Unconditional love is about giving

Far more than taking.

 

Now create two columns:

Under “Giving and Taking”

And show me that you give more

Than you rake in.

 

Do not include your bills

Or even your tithes:

Women, don’t include your husbands

Or husbands, your wives.

 

Check the good Samaritan

Back in the Bible time,

This was unconditional love;

He wasn’t just kind.

 

 

He risked his own life

For his life-long foe,

Very unlike the Levite and priest

Who no concern showed.

 

Unconditional love

Isn’t who is my neighbour

But rather, and fundamentally so,

Am I a neighbour?

 

Note the lawyer’s question:

“Who is my neighbour?”

And note Jesus’ pedagogical approach

In cluing him the answer.

 

Don’t ask the question

Who is my neighbour

But do the introspection and ask:

Am I a neighbour?

 

Luke 10:37

 

And he said,

He that shewed mercy on him.

Then said Jesus unto him,

Go, and do thou likewise.

 

Romans 5:7-8

 

For scarcely for a righteous man

Will one die:

Yet peradventure for a good man

Some would even dare to die.

 

But God

Commendeth his love toward us,

In that, while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.

 

Herein then,

Is unconditional love:

That Jesus Christ gave up all,

Even heaven above.

 

Stewart Russell © November 28, 2024

 

Moored to Oneself

 

 

To what are we moored

In this pluralistic time

Where everything seems relative

And jelly is spine?

 

No difference, it seems,

Between sand and rock

And one can pass for the other

Like dress and frock.

 

Nothing is steadfast

And we just float around,

Same difference, some would say,

Whether up or down.

 

To each his own reality-

That’s how he sees it,

No reference point or benchmark

Informs his habit.

 

Moored to myself

Makes me feel free

And it really does not matter

If I drift aimlessly.

 

No beginning, no end,

All one continuous bend

Riding the world’s merry-go-round,

World without end.

 

No reference-point

Nothing by which to gauge,

The entire world is just a stage

And I am its sage.

 

It’s me and me alone

Accountable to only me,

And my truth is as good as anyone’s

So, set me free.

 

 

 

Nothing is absolute!

Bear this in your mind,

One man’s freedom, my friend,

Is another’s bind.

 

It’s nothing topsy-turvy

If it works for me,

I am the centre of the universe,

And I am free.

 

My beauty is my beauty,

My truth is my truth,

Thus, my values are my values

And I am my proof.

 

My reason to be here

Is my own purpose,

It has nothing to do with anyone

Hence, it is just.

 

The survival of the fittest?

Call it what you may,

This means of all there is, I succeed

While all beside me fail.

 

 

 

I am moored to me:

Distinctly myself and I

And don’t you dare try to change me;

Don’t even try.

 

And so, I present to you

The world’s dilemma,

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

And each book its cover.

 

Thus, all things of beauty

But no distinctive beauty,

No benchmark by which a judge

Can perform his duty.

 

Many varying values

But no moral plumb line,

Morality and immorality are the same

Together combined.

 

 

 

A myriad of truths:

Yours and mine and theirs

But no truth by which to measure

What is just and fair. 

 

Different purposes

But no defining purpose

That rightly informs all of humanity

On his return to the dust.

 

From dust created He us

To dust we will return

And the sooner we understand this

The more we will learn.

 

God is the only absolute

By which all can be measured

And to ignore His divine blueprint

Is to miss life’s treasure.

 

Truth is at the top

Forming value and beauty,

Out of these emerges our purpose

That informs our duty.

 

 

 

Moored to the Rock

Though adaptive to change,

For to be moored to oneself

Is to be deranged.

 

Stewart Russell © September 17, 2025

 

Valentine Downplayed?

  

 

 

Was it me

Or was it true

A downplayed Valentine

Was in view?

 

A lot of red

But not of Cupid,

A campaign was going

For a 3-peat bid.

 

 

 

Love of party

And of Mia Amor

And re that sea of red

Above she soared.

 

Maybe today

With results finalized

The fact of Valentine

Will be realized.

 

I imagined it?

Maybe probably so

After all, quite a lot of red

Was on show.

 

A gift of 30 seats:

Mia’s Valentine gift

And to the Botanical Gardens

Many will drift.

 

‘Twill be a sea of red

Over that place

And the Valentine photo

Will be Mia’s face.

 

 

 

The triumphant red

Over yellow and green

Will be readily on display

With their queen.

 

Congrats to the BLP

And to Mia on her 3-peat,

No room for the others;

Not a single seat.

 

Spare a thought

For Valentine Day,

Don’t let the party of red have it

All their way.

 

 

 

Combine the two

As you celebrate,

Remember it’s a love date

And don’t hate.

 

 

 

For we are all one

Bajan born and bred

And all colours are significant

But today, it’s red.

 

And let’s hope

Out of it will come good

For the nation and its people

As it should.

 

Happy Valentine

To all of you!

To the BLP, DLP, FOD, et al,

Keep love in view. 

 

Stewart Russell © February 14, 2026

 

Apathy Wins

  

 

Stop wunna boasting

And look at who en voting,

One hundred and eighty-seven thousand

And still counting.

 

More than two-thirds

By a simple calculation,

Even Mia could not bring them out

Is my summation.

 

Last time out

Was the lowest poll ever,

To tell me that this time would be so low

I would say never. 

 

  

 

A staggering statistic

Regarding this one

And I dare say it would have been so

Regardless of who won.

 

Eighty-three thousand

Is the electorate that voted,

It’s just a new national consciousness

Someone quoted.

 

‘Tis nothing to celebrate,

Madam PM, take note,

For when apathy wins, we all lose,

That is my quote.

 

Even as the Bs celebrate

We ought to cogitate

On the ramifications of this statistic

For our beloved state.

 

 

 

Just 30.8 percent

Has got to be a protest,

Meaning the BLP got out their base

But not the rest.

 

Rather than vote BLP

They decided not to vote,

Meaning that the winning BLP party

Must also take note.

 

 

 

For the second time

The Apathy Party has won:

The first time in the 2022 snap election

And again, in this one.

 

Only once prior to ’22,

Was a poll less than 60%

But these two recent snap elections

Show a certain bent.

 

It is interesting to note

The poll of 1994

When the Erskine Sandiford DLP

Was shown the door.

 

A “no confidence” motion

Brought by Owen Arthur

Succeeded on the floor of Parliament

And the D's struggled ever after.

 

That three-year term

Occasioned a snap election

And was one of three 60% turn-outs

Going back to the ’56 election.

 

The highest election polls

Came in successive elections:

The first in our year of Independence

And in the 1971 elections.

 

Both were Barrow wins

In the upper 70s and 80s,

79.7% in the year of Independence

Full of expectancy.

 

 

 

Independence was granted

Just the February before,

Thus, Barrow became a national hero

For this and more.

 

In '71 was the highest

With a whopping 80.63 %,

That the vote was a powerful means,

Drove the Bajan intent. 

 

But now gone from us

Are those civic conscious days

When a complete parliamentary term

Comprised five years.

  

Now we have elections

Long before that time

And this strategy puts other parties

In a serious bind.

 

Mia is very clever,

A shrewd strategist is she

And it’s time she uses her clever mind

To curb this apathy.

 

  

 

Apathy Party has won

These last two elections,

So, the buck now stops at PM Mottley:

Leader of our Nation.

 

The worst of it all,

None will enter parliament

And unless someone crosses again,

There’s none to represent.

 

No opposition in Parliament

Hampers true democracy

And I must remind my Bajan family,

This is a travesty.

 

 

 

Apathy has won again

And in effect we have lost,

So, all we can do now is wait and see

What will be the cost.

 

Stewart Russell © February 12, 2026

 

Today Is Polling Day

  

 

Today is polling day,

The rhetoric is over

And the campaigning is done.

Each candidate strove

And fought tooth and nail

And their race has run.

 

Now it’s the electorate

That will now speak

As by their vote they will decide.

It’s a powerful moment

And it is left to see

How flow the ripping tide.

 

The outcome is critical

To every one of us

As we wait with bated breath.

Hence, the thrill of victory

And the agony of defeat

Invariably will attest.

 

 

 

One way or another

We must move ahead

As we steer this ship of state.

For whatever the tide

Be it in stormy gale

We must face whatever fate.

 

May democracy win

And the vote reflect such

Whether for Mottley or Thorne.

And let it be known

While party lines separate

We are mostly Bajan born.

 

So, perform your duty

Those so disposed

And do so in peace and in love.

For in the final analysis

An account is required

Before the One above.

 

Stewart Russell © February 11, 2026