An Old Year’s Night Prayer

Heavenly Father, as we close another year

We give you thanks and praise

For the fact that you have brought us thus far

We are absolutely amazed.

Through many dangers we have come

And by your mercies we have not been consumed

We thank you for the moments spent with you

And for the times that we communed.

We thank you for the faithfulness of the Holy Spirit

Even when unfaithful we had been

We thank you for your calm assurance

When we encountered the unforeseen.

We praise you Almighty Father

For your blessings that kept us through this year

We give you praise and glory

For demonstrating how much you cared.

For our families biological and spiritual

We thank you Lord for every one

And for the legacy of those no longer with us

Who have gone on to the ‘great beyond’.

We give you thanks for Barbados

For your favour on this land

For the church and other communities

That acknowledged the guidance from your hand.

And loving Father as we come to end of this year

We thank you for the blessed Trinity

The Father, the Son and Holy Spirit

Who indwell us and fits us for eternity.

Amen!

Stewart Russell © 2016

Into the Unknown

Watching out Old Year’s night

Into the dawning of the New

Another year has flown so quickly

It just flitted past our view.

Notwithstanding the plans we made

And the conditions that prevailed

We have made it yet another time

Before the grim reaper could assail.

Some that started out with us

Are no longer in this life’s fray

Having gone the way of all flesh

In spite of our plea for them to stay.

We take this moment to reflect

On their life and legacy

And pray that we who have remained

Would preserve their memory.

The New Year beckons with its challenges

Challenges of varying assortment

Some of which we are aware

But others in the unknown department.

Some to which we know the answers

Others we have failed to resolve,

Whatever the level of difficulty

Each of us somehow will be involved.

None of us can hope to escape

The ravages of the coming year

For as a global community

We all experience the common fear.

The fear regarding life’s quality

And what the future holds,

The fear and angst of the unpredictable

That confronts the timid and the bold.

The fear of death and what it entails

And of destinies whether this or that,

The fear of life beyond the grave

Whether or not such is a fact.

These and so many other thoughts

Vie for our attention one way or another,

It doesn’t matter whether we’re rich or poor

For most, these issues are a bother.

Nothing is quite so disconcerting

As peering into the unknown

With its large and looming uncertainty

And its characterized, ominous tone.

The unknown is all around us

So near that we can almost touch

But yet we ne’er can decipher the next event

To put plans in place for such.

Like a little vessel in the ocean huge

We are carried along on its whim,

Helpless almost to do anything

And our chances hopelessly slim.

Into the inevitable, unknown reality

We chart a course for the year

Knowing full well that by February

That course will have disappeared.

The compass of life by which we sail

Depends upon what we see

The North Star is fixed but where in life

Do we have such a desired facility?

We sail through life by guess at best

Premised on a number of assumptions

But the fickleness of the human mind

Often finds us short of truth and reason.

Hence

The question on every mind should be:

Where can I find a guiding star,

A star not shaken by circumstance

Like that guiding wise men from afar?

For given our position in the belly of the ship

Amidst the boisterous waves

There must be one with an overarching view

That has the ability to save.

  

There is such a one that knows the unknown

That from Him nothing is hid;

He created the universe and you and me

And now for our life He bids.

God’s Son by whom He made all things

Was the bid He made for us,

His life’s blood was spilt on Calvary’s cross

Yes, God’s Son’s name is Jesus

God the Father looked down from high

And saw vessels without helm or rudder,

The captains thereof knew not what to do

And the mighty winds made them shudder.

With a wooden cross he stayed their ships

And gave them a chance to cope

All they needed to do was simply apply

Through Jesus our ever conquering hope

The New Year need not take us unawares

Because the future we do not know,

The Holy Spirit is more reliable than any star

From the Bible we learn that this is so.

With him in our vessel we can smile

Yes, we can smile at the storm,

He has weathered many a tempest

Tempests of all kinds and form.

Let not the New Year find you on the rocks

Battered and broken from the year before,

Accept the bid God has made for you

There is so much for you in store.

A captain with whom you can sail any sea

However the winds and waves may churn

With simple trust and faith in Him

There is much that you can learn.

A reducing fear regarding the unknown,

Less fear of death or what’s beyond

For God who guides, knows everything

About every New Year from Creation’s dawn.

Stewart Russell © 2016

I Got THIS

Christmas was coming

There were no geese to get fat

And I didn’t have a penny

To waste on anyone’s hat.

But I was looking forward

To Christmas morning service

When lo and behold

I encounter THIS.

What is THIS?

I know you would ask

Getting rid of THIS

Is a mammoth task.

What are you talking about?

Another good question

THIS is a health challenge

My recent imposition.

Some strange things have happened

All across the world

THIS is one of them

By now you would have heard.

Trump was elected

It was not what I expected

Somehow THIS was detected

And now I am infected.

What are you talking about?

Cool it, have a little patience

THIS will be around for a bit

You will need some resilience.

Thursday before Christmas

I was shopping, not much

Felt this tickle in the throat

Just a little tickle as such.

Friday morning would you believe?

The tickle was a lump

When ever I swallowed

My saliva climbed a hump.

THIS could not be ignored

My attention was required

And by mid-morning

My throat was on fire.

It was like my Adam’s apple

Was turned outside in

Narrowing the passage

And hindering swallowing.

THIS was not nice

As you could well imagine

Just like in the Bible

I wondered, “Who did sin?”

Well a friend called me up

And asked how I was doing

“Not too well,” I said,

“Looks like the flu came in.”

He said, “Definitely for sure

For I had it too

And it real, real bad

That is so true.”

He said, “You think you’re over it

Then, Bam! Another hit

THIS becomes like a habit

Enough to break your spirit.”

THIS is a progression

Perhaps starting with the throat

Next it would move to the head

THIS is like “Murder She Wrote”.

Like as in my case

THIS attacked my throat first

Next THIS moved to my head

The rocks almost caused it to burst.

Every time I held down

 My head felt like it had in rocks

And by the time I came back up

I could feel the aftershocks.

THIS isn’t nice at all

You would wish it on nobody

Not on your cruelest foe

Or even your worst enemy.

THIS wasn’t finished yet

After the head came the nose

So blocked up and runny for so

I could not easily doze.

I tried to get to sleep

But merely tossed and turned

And the rag to dab my nose

Would make your stomach churn.

You get a little ease

And so you drift off to sleep

But you are kind of restless

Nothing really deep.

THIS moved from nose to eyes

Eyes red like I drunk

You say it was Christmas time

That idea in your head, debunk!

I’ve never been drunk in my life

Not at Christmas or any time

THIS is not an alcoholic drink

So please do not be unkind.

From throat to head

Then nose, then eyes

THIS was not through with me yet

It seemed to target my demise.

During the day

You could almost feel it gone

But when evening comes around

THIS becomes your storm.

Four mornings on a stretch

I woke up before six

I really wished to sleep

But THIS had me in a fix.

 

Eyes Stuck down with adhesive

And face in a terrible mess

I struggled to the washbasin

To rid me of THIS stress.

It took a fair bit of time

To remove the stubborn goo

If you want to stick an item

THIS can supply the glue.

THIS was not finished yet

It deposited in me some stuff

I tried to make some withdrawals

And that was very rough.

Four mornings consecutively

Either from up or down

Came some yellowish, greenish stuff

It’s all right for you to frown.

I know if THIS gets you

All the poise and frills will go

And the scorn you show me now

Will disappear when THIS shows.

THIS has not yet left me

I pray THIS would go away

But THIS is a stubborn old fellow

And for a while must have his say.

THIS had a say on Christmas morning

It’s on track for Old Year’s Night

But I want THIS to understand

I will not give in without a fight.

I am still experiencing the ills

In all the areas I’ve mentioned

Not as bad as they were at first

But I still have some apprehension.

There are some remaining points

That THIS could still affect

However any chance that it will happen

I absolutely reject.

By now you have an idea

What THIS could really be

You may not be a doctor

But the symptoms you can see.

THIS they say is a virus

A real bad virus of the flu

Concerning where it came from

I really wish I knew.

Here in our little island

Some have given it a name

I am reluctant to repeat it

So no name, no lock up, no shame.

Because of THIS progression

It trumps up as it proceeds

Attacking one point at a time

Before it finally recedes.

It is not uncommon to hear

When working with a friend

“I got this, don’t you worry

I’ll see it to the end.”

Next time you’d better ask

Particularly if he is alone

“What do you mean by this?”

THIS might very well be

Trump’s Harsh Influenza Syndrome.

My throat is still sore
On mornings it's worse
THIS is not playing 
It's like a curse.

This is my prayer for you
That you don't catch THIS
And that your prayer for me is
 I get to Old Year's Night service. 

Signed:

I got THIS
Tired Running Up My Pressure
Forward Latest Update

Stewart Russell © 2016

After Christmas What?

 

Christmas day has come and gone

Now what?

You enjoyed it to the fullest starting before dawn

Now what?

You made adequate preparations for the big day

Now what?

And spent loads of money to celebrate in your way

Now what?

You drank up a stream and you ate up a storm

Now what?

And have no money left but that is the norm

So what?

You’ll see what you can scrape up for Old Year’s night

Then what?

Then enjoy yourself with unbridled delight

Then what?

Somehow life will continue in the coming year

So what?

Though December bills are still left to be paid

So what?

At what point will you think about your soul?

Say what?

And become aware Jesus came to make you whole?

How’s that?

Well...

Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season,

His coming became necessary after Adam’s treason,

Who disobeyed God when persuaded by Eve

Earning all humanity death without reprieve.

Hence Jesus came to earth to die in our place

To hang from a cross and suffer disgrace

So that Christmas is more than having a good time,

It’s a reminder that Jesus died for your sins and mine.

 

 

 

Jesus is coming again; that will be Christmas too

As he splits the eastern skies and comes into view,

Again there will be angels but no shepherds or sheep
The wise men will be all who gave him their souls to keep.

So if Christmas is one day or just a season for you

And having a ring down time is all that you do,

Jesus says you are dead in your trespasses and sins

And must repent of those sins when you come to him.

So as you reflect on the Christmas that’s just passed

And think on the good time that just couldn't last

Take a little time to consider the state of your soul

And the fact that only Jesus can make you whole.

Reach out to Jesus today and your Christmas extend

For as a believer in him Christmas will never end,

Why not penitently invite him now into your heart

So that Christ that never ending Christmas can start?

It’ll cost you nothing seeing you have nothing to spend

But it cost God His Son whom for our sake He did send,

So having paid much to enjoy Christmas for a season

Use this opportunity now to celebrate it for the right reason.

 

 

 

Yes Christmas day has come and gone

And with the bills you are feeling quite forlorn

But in Jesus Christ you’ll have his joy from the start

All you need do is to invite him into your heart.

His Spirit will bare witness that you are saved

And you will know this for you will differently behave

And Christmas will mean more to you each and every day

For in your heart you will see Christmas in a different way.

The dilemma of “after Christmas what” will be gone

For like so many worldwide you will have been reborn,

Jesus Christ will fill you with his peace from day one

And in this life he will give you the strength to go on.

Stewart Russell © 2016