No Lot o’ Long Talk

 

“Did God really say?”

What an introduction!

And with that, Eve’s brain-gears

Spun into action

God had spoken clearly

Eve had clearly understood

But that wily serpent, the devil,

Got under Eve’s hood.

“Did God really say that?

I wonder why would He,

Considering the fact

That it is He who made the tree?

“Why would He, pray tell me,

In this beautiful garden put a tree

And then instruct you and Adam

To see and don’t see?

It doesn’t make sense to me

And it doesn’t sound like God,

Unless of course...”

More doubt injected the fraud.

“Unless of course... of course

He wants to toy with you.

Why else would he tell you, don’t

And then put the tree in plain view?

I will tell you something

It will do you well to believe.

God is hiding something from you

That He has and you don’t, Eve.

God knows if you eat of that tree

You will become like God.”

You see, Satan had tried it and failed

But after all he is the Fraud.

If only Eve had known

What Satan knew,

She would have obeyed God

But she hadn’t a clue.

Why didn’t God warned her

About this subtle creature?

Surely it would have helped

If she had seen the whole picture.

But God held back information

That was important to Eve

And the devil capitalized on it

And Eve was deceived.

So, the devil outsmarted God

To the detriment of Eve

And then God punished Eve

After she was deceived.

So God must take the blame

For Eve’s mistake

Even though the news Satan brought

Was the kind they call fake.

We made the same blunder

Maybe even today,

God gave us an instruction

And we disobeyed.

Next we blamed God

For the trouble that came

And accused the Holy Spirit

For not playing our game.

Eve was given a clear directive

She should have obeyed

But like us, she spent time with Satan

Day after day.

Which brings me to the point

That I really want to make,

That we throw words at God

But the devil we won’t forsake.

Our conversations with the devil

Originate in our heart

And while we give God lip honor

We never bid Satan depart.

  

The heart is the principal thing

When we talk to God

But more often than not,

That’s how we engage the Fraud.

Eve spent too much time

Talking to him

And with that came

The all embracing sin.

It is not for us to understand why

When God gives a directive

 But obey it to the letter

And let it be instructive.

Satan does what he has to do

Because he has limited time,

And he is not as smart as you think

For his tricks are one of a kind.

It’s the same old trick he put to Eve

It’s getting us to doubt

But we need to put him in his place

By simply saying, “Get out!”

Get out of my conversations!

Get out of my life!

Get of my home

And away with your strife!

Get out of our schools

And out of our churches too!

Jesus is our Saviour

And there’s nothing you can do.

 No lot o’ long talk

Neither from the lips nor the heart,

And when you get tired saying, “Get out!”

Just simply say, “Depart!”

Stewart Russell © October 2019

Our Best Option

Have you ever asked a question

That no one answered?

Did you decide there and then

It’d be better to have it cancelled?

Why, after all if no one can answer

Would it not be better

To forget the question

And just do not bother?

Have you ever answered a question

That no one asked?

Did you decide there and then

That was an easy task?

Questions without answers

And answers without questions,

We have all gone mad

What’s the next option?

It is simple, though, if you see what I mean,

We live in a mad, mad world.

So don’t be surprised by verses one and three

It is likely to get more absurd.

A question could be asked

Or a question could be implied

Such that, in this mad, mad world

You may have to decide,

The eyes may say it

And such may implied your task,

Hence you may very well answer a question

That was never really asked.

 

I have seen parents do it

To their children before they asked

Especially when the answer was a no

To whatever the task.

The child might reply,

 

To which the parent responds

So you have already grasped.”

Like the sign that says, don’t bother to ask

The answer is going to be no,

We will both have a pleasant day

If you don’t bother to stop but go.

More questions than answers

You must have heard the song,

But that was long ago

These days that assertion is wrong.

 

For non-existing problems

And feel quite smug with ourselves

Especially when we solve them.

Like the gender issue for example

Which was not a problem

But we created a bank of genders

Well, that should solve them.

An answer bank has been established

With answers of all kinds,

The questions will come later

 

Meanwhile we have questions

To which we can’t find answers,

I guess in light of this established bank

These questions will be cancelled.

For a bank of future answers

Cannot address the present questions

So I must ask this question again,

What is the next option?

There is a book with all the answers

But very dissimilar to this bank,

Do not think I am being facetious

This is seriously not a prank.

The Bible has all of the answers

Its author anticipated our questions,

He knows the end from the beginning

Herein lies our best option.

  

He offers an open invitation

Bring your questions and come,

There’s not a question He can’t answer

And He answers through His Son.

Jesus is God’s begotten Son

In whom we have access,

And together with the Holy Spirit

This option is the best.

Stewart Russell © October 2019

I Saw My Father

I saw my father

I know it was he,

I was lying on the floor

And he was standing over me.

The interesting thing, though,

It was no concrete floor,

It was wood all through

And he was near the door.

It wasn’t no dream

‘Cause I wasn’t asleep,

Please shut your mouth

And let me speak.

Of course I was surprised

And you would know why

Since this is ten years

That my father had died.

I was at the morgue

When he came out the fridge,

And also at the burial

Which was at Coral Ridge.

So please don’t remind me

That my father had died

For this is the very reason

That I was surprised.

I tell you it wasn’t a dream

You think I foolish or what?

It was my experience

I was there and you were not.

That’s the problem with people

That were not at an event,

You relate it to them

And your story they resent.

Sorry about that distraction

Let me continue,

Please do not interrupt me

To give your view.

Now where was I?

Let me recall,

I was lying on the floor

But that wasn’t all.

All of a sudden,

Faster than lightning,

He drew this belt from nowhere

To start a beating.

This is no lie

I am telling the truth,

I even got a wale on my hand

I can show you as proof.

I scrambled off the floor

And started to run,

It is then I remembered

To do that was dumb.

My brother tried it before

And he got more licks,

Back then he did not realize

My father was so quick.

So I froze right there

And took every lash,

My brother thought he was Bolt

But my father was Flash.

Just three lashes he gave me

As a matter of fact, four,

The ones on the hand

Only counted for more.

I dared to ask him

What the lashes were for

So he drew the belt again

For such he abhorred.

I quickly apologized

And withdrew the question

Whereupon he disappeared,

I don’t know which direction.

Yes, I saw my father

And it wasn’t a dream,

I felt every lash

Though I didn’t scream.

That was also a “no-no”

We weren’t allowed to scream,

That would be disrespect

Bordering on the obscene.

My experience is finished

You can talk all you like,

 Just one thing though,

It was in the day, not in the night.

Nobody believes me

I find it hard to believe me too

But I saw my father

And that is why I do.

They say, “seeing is believing”

And I believe what I see,

I saw my father

Just like you are seeing me.

The only thing that baffles me

Is his disappearing act

But if I did not see him,

He couldn’t disappear like that.

That should satisfy you

That what I tell you is fact

But if you don’t this time

You will when he comes back.

Stewart Russell © September 2019