An Olympic Marvel

 

 

Who is the fastest in the world?

I know who got your vote,

It was no other, I am sure,

Than the fleet-footed Usain Bolt.

 

And the time he ran

That made him the all-time great

Was a jaw-stopping, foot-stomping

Nine point five eight. (9.58s)

 

Achieved back in 2009,

That record still stands today

And his competition, though fierce,

Was kept at bay.

 

But this is not the marvel

That I really want to highlight,

Rather, I want to highlight another:

That of team fight.

 

 

The fastest team in the world

Contains the fastest man

And I do not have to ask the question,

You know it’s Jamaican.

 

A mind-boggling 36.84 seconds

As four men scorched the track,

Of the skill pertaining to this event

There was no noticeable lack.

 

Four men with varying abilities

Ran as though one man,

None feeling he was better than the four

Thus, sticking to the team plan.

 

Do the math, I implore you

And divide 36.84 by 4

And you will discover, if I am correct,

That 100m took Bolt 0.37sec more.

 

 

On average the four ran 9.21

While Bolt’s fastest was 9.58,

Therein is the marvel I highlight

Bolt’s time is not as great.

 

No one man, however great,

Is nearly as good as his relay team,

Bolt knew this and together the four

Achieve their World dream.

 

Not one of us is as good

As all of us put together,

A team can achieve more than one man

By its collective endeavor.

 

Four men together ran 9.21 seconds

While the fastest man ran 9.58,

I submit, Usain Bolt compared to the four,

Was not nearly as great.

 

 

The fastest man, you see, 

Is not as fast as the fastest team,

Such a feat can never be achieved

Even in a dream.

 

Stewart Russell © February 19, 2023

 

A Coming Still to Come

 

 

 

Every eye shall see him

And also they that pierced him,

Though it sounds very like it

Could this be the second coming?

 

The Bible speaks of two advents

The first was the virgin birth,

Angels proclaimed to shepherd folk

The Saviour had come to earth.

 

Jesus is that Saviour

That the Father had promised to man,

To redeem man from the curse of sin

Was the Father’s salvation plan.

 

Adam and Eve had sold us out

But Jesus came to buy us back,

Hence, the purpose of the first advent:

His death is a historical fact

 

His death was only temporary

For up from the grave he rose,

The evidence of this was an empty tomb

And the grave clothes he disposed.

 

 

There were many who testified

They had seen the risen Christ,

Some days later he ascended on high

Having paid sin’s ultimate price.

 

The culmination of his first advent

Was at his glorious ascension

But he will appear in the second advent

Amidst tremendous exultation.

 

At this time, the Bible says,

All that are in the grave will hear:

Some will come forth to eternal life,

The others to everlasting despair.

 

Turn to Revelation 1 verse 7

For the words in verse number 1,

Is this prophecy yet to be fulfilled

Or, has it already gone?

 

For some it is already gone

For others it is yet to come,

But all are agreed on the central one

Which is Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

 

 

Some believe this visitation

Is the judgement promised on Jerusalem,

Others see it much differently

And with this have a problem.

 

It all depends on how we see

Words like “near” and “at hand”,

 Whether they are explicit or implicit

Regarding the timing of God’s plan.

 

It must be understood my friend

That neither position is salvific

But what is important to you and me

Is that an advent is still futuristic.

 

I could go on and argue some more

On either side of the dispute,

But there is something far more critical

That none of us should refute.

 

We may never come to a conclusion

Concerning our respective positions

But far more critical than that resolve

Is Christ’s Divine commission.

 

 

Go ye into all the world

And preach the glorious gospel,

Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit

And of them make disciples.

 

There is a coming still to come

For the children of the kingdom,

Meanwhile we tell of God’s great salvation

Through Jesus Christ, His Son.

 

Our eschatology might be different

Leading up to the second advent

But far more important than our positions

Is the teaching to repent.

  

John the Baptist preached repentance

Jesus taught it too

And while we wait for him to appear

This we must also pursue.

 

We’ve a story to tell to the Nations

The story of man’s redemption:

How Jesus came and is coming again,

The culmination of man’s salvation.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

What Encouragement!

 

 

What encouragement it is

To promise someone that’s down

Something not likely to happen?

They must think I’m a clown.

 

Politicians do it everyday

And especially at Election time

And they mostly get away with it

Particularly with the blind.

 

Christians do it as well

Like when they tell you to pray,

It’s their solution to every problem,

It’s their affordable get-away.

 

The apostle James mentions it:

Send the mendicant away,

More than likely he’ll be satisfied

If I tell him I will pray.

 

I may have the means to help

But prayer will do so much more

Than giving him from my abundance

Before I let him go.

 

Think of someone in pain

Moaning and groaning in anguish,

What great encouragement is it

To leave them with a wish?

 

I can see you are in great pain

But you know, it could be worse,

You could be in yonder churchyard

In the back of a hearse.

 

Or you go to church a Sunday

Weighed down with worldly care

And the preacher beats up upon you

Trying to convince you he cares.

 

 

What great encouragement

Blaming people for their woe!

You are getting just what you deserve,

Change or there will be more.

 

What encouragement is it

To give a man who has no feet

The most expensive pair of shoes

To walk on the dusty streets?

 

 

Or to promise 100 buses

That will be arriving next year

To sort out a critical present challenge

That many commuters fear.

 

Like the loss of employment

Because workers arrive late

And children missing time from school

And currently not up to date.

 

What encouragement is it

To blame the last Government

For all we are experiencing now

In our present torment?

 

Two elections since

And nothing much has changed

At least, for the most vulnerable,

Don’t you think this strange?

 

 

What encouragement is it

For the at-risk people living here

With all the shooting and the killing

To be told it’s worse elsewhere?

 

What encouragement is it

To pay exorbitant salaries to some

While the employable unemployed

Keeps on getting none?

 

Paying a barrage of Ministers,

Not to mention several consultants

Out of the Barbadian tax payers’ coffers

To sustain their extravagance.

 

And to boot, before I finish,

The middle class is being wiped out,

What encouragement is there in this?

None without a doubt!

 

 

What encouragement is it

To promise that better will come

And this for the last several years

When to-date there is none?

 

Pseudo encouragement I call it,

It's only in the mind

But it never rolls out in actual fact

At any given time.

 

Stewart Russell © May 1, 2024

The Old Age Book

 

 

It’s not a very inviting theme

But I still dare to have a look,

Given the time that I’ve been around

I guess I’m listed in this book.

 

Seventy years the Psalmist said

And if by reason of strength, four score,

From this we must conclude

At least, seventy unlocks this door.

 

But this was in the Psalmist’s time

And maybe it’s different today

Hence my question, when does old come?

What do you have to say?

 

“You are as old as you feel,”

I have heard some of the old ones say

And others, “Age is just a number”

And you can tell by their way.

 

These advocates dress up young

 And they behave like they are young

Even though their contemporaries

Oft look at them with a frown.

 

“Why don’t they act their age?”

“Boy, they are really desperate though,”

“Why don’t they behave before the young

And a better example show?”

 

So, when does old age begin?

Tell me, I would really like to know,

Is it at fifty or sixty or seventy

Or only when it begins to show?

 

 

Then it might be as early as forty

But we can’t go any further back,

Remember, impressions are only feelings

And they should not count as facts.

 

I must admit that I feel good

Though I’ve reached three score and ten

But if you ask when last I swam

I cannot tell you when.

 

I ride a little bit and I walk

Though not nearly as much as before

And the aches and pains remind me

To take it easy as I go.

 

No more St. Lucy treks for me

Or even the Grantley Adams Airport,

Back in the day I could easily do it

And for me then it was sport.

 

So, if I were to answer this question:

When does old age come,

Honestly, I would definitely have to say,

My youth is certainly done.

 

And it has been for a while,

For sure since I went into retirement

And I will not wine and lament-

At my age I am content.

 

I may not have answered it for you

And in a sense, I am extremely glad,

Pretend for as long as you can if you can

But old age is not all bad.

 

I get to be own-way a bit

And they wait on me hand and foot

And often they don’t know that I know

Some things I deliberately overlook.

 

 

Sometimes they say I have lost it

And sometimes they are absolutely right

But often, I can tell you they don’t know

It was a purposeful oversight.

 

I get to keep them guessing,

“Is he serious or is he joking?”

You see, in my old age show I am starring

And they are merely participating.

 

I issue the scripts and the parts,

They subjectively follow my lead

And given the fact that I am in charge

I determine their speed.

Check the old age book

And for sure you will find my name,

Old age has caught up with me

But thank God I am still sane.

 

Stewart Russell © May 26, 2023

 

Whither April Showers

 

 

No chance of April showers

April has gone away,

The month of May and maybe

Begins on this very day.

 

Commonly known as May Day

From work workers will take a rest,

Labour Day it's also known as

With entertainment at its best.

 

Take Barbados for example:

Picnic spots will be rammed

And these workers will take a breather

To have their annual May Day jam.

 

Per chance should showers come

Remember what month begins today,

They can’t be April showers

For these don’t come in May.

 

As for me, I am staying put

And you maybe able to guess why,

I am not as young as I used to be

And me this heat would fry.

 

 

It is truly energy sapping

And there’re no showers to cool it down,

No chance of April showers in May

Unless April comes back round.

 

Not in a day, I guess you’d say,

April was only yesterday,

Well, I would be extremely contented

If showers do come in May.

 

Or I could wait till June

For some showers to cool me down,

Do recall it’s in the month of June

Hurricane season comes around.

 

 

It’s until the 31^st of November

I’m sure I heard a Minister say

So, whether at home or at a picnic spot,

Do have an enthralling May Day!

 

 

And if per chance it starts to rain

Remember today is May Day,

These won’t be April showers for sure,

For April can’t come in May.

 

Stewart Russell © May 1, 2024

 

A Power Called Love

 

 

Love is not weepy and weak

It’s gentle yet firm,

It is harnessed power

Even when spurned.

 

It’s synonymous with God

For God is love,

Jesus demonstrated it

When he came from above.

 

Love was reviled

But reviled not again,

It was to a cruel rugged cross

That love came.

 

To enforce is temporary

Until fear goes away,

But God’s love is everlasting

And has the last say.

 

Love cannot be forced

And is not external,

Au contraire, it is within

And is eternal.

 

Love is the power of God

That constrains,

It is why we do what we do

In Jesus’ name.

 

 

 

Love held the Saviour

On Calvary’s cross,

It was not those iron spikes

But his love for the lost.

 

Love was the real power

That held him there,

Love shouts across the centuries

Jesus cared.

 

 

For God so loved…

Therein is the power

That created heaven and earth

And keeps us every hour.

 

The vastness of God

Does not speak of His size

But to His wonderful love

That so many despise.

 

Love so amazing

Of power so divine

That assures me I belong to Jesus

And Jesus is mine.

 

Yes!  Such is the expression

Of the power that is love

That came that first Christmas

From heaven above.

 

 

Love is harnessed power

Released under control

And coupled with grace and truth

God’s mercies unfold.

 

Each and every day

His love comes our way,

It’s synonymous with God’s power

That over us holds sway.

 

Who or what can separate us

From love so profound?

God’s love has all the power

Any opposition to confound.

 

Love is the power

That binds us to Christ

Just like it held him to the cross

In his atoning sacrifice.

 

Love is the power

That keeps all that he saves

And brings them back in line

When they misbehave.

 

Love is the power

That binds the born again together,

No fear that unharnessed power

Will cause us bother.

 

 

No power without love

And no love without power

For what would be the use

One without the other?

 

A power called love

To a love that is secure

And a love that is powered

To keep us assured.

 

Stewart Russell © April 20, 2024

 

Holding on or Eternally Held?

 

 

 

So often we say

We are holding on

But in actual fact

Our strength is gone.

 

We are being held,

That is the fact

And the hands that hold us

Will never grow slack.

 

This is the believer’s reality,

I mean the born again,

It is God’s mercy to us

In both pleasure and pain.

 

His holding is constant,

Our holding on is not,

Reliance on God’s dependability

Is the believer’s lot.

 

God doesn’t permit us

To pull our hands out of His

Even though, of course,

We are still exposed to risk.

 

I know we do things

That do not please Him

And it appears he has let go

On account of our sin.

 

 

But it is not what it seems

Though we have let go,

God is still holding our hands

That’s how much I know.

 

It’s difficult to understand

But is most assuredly real,

Almighty God, our Father

Can never fail.

  

Next time you are asked

How you are doing,

Reply “eternally held”

Even if it’s not showing.

 

For we walk by faith

And not by sight,

And when everything seems wrong

Everything is right.

 

There I go again

With the unexplained,

But once God’s holding my hand

All is well in sun or rain.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2020