Based on my belief
I often dreamt of Jesus’ return,
I was absolutely convinced
It would be during my sojourn.
My night sleep would be filled
With visions of the rapture
But I would suddenly awake
To face reality’s picture.
It could be a nightmare
Where I would be left behind
Or caught up in the clouds
At another time.
I still recall that time
When I was awakened by a snore,
It was my mother’s trumpeting
That I hear no more.
I was steadfast in my gaze
Upon the starry sky
Expecting the Lord would return
And take me on high.
By the way, I still do
Though much has been rearranged,
After reading the Word
Quite a lot has been changed.
“After reading the Word?
What was he doing all the time?”
I took off the denominational lens
And I disabused my mind.
It is amazing how we study
In the light of what we think
And, therein my brother and sister,
Is the denominational link.
The denomination we joined
Shapes what we believe
And that influence is what we see
When the Bible we read.
We see what we want to see,
It is a denominational thing
And it is even further established
In the songs that we sing.
It jumps off the page
Whether it is there or not,
Since for years we have read it
It becomes our lot.
We read the pictures presented
Like we did in primary school,
Thus, the concept is cemented
And the denomination rules.
We live it out in the daytime
And we dream about it in the night
And as far as we are concerned
It is the only thing that’s right.
A little brainwashing, perhaps,
Hopefully not the dangerous kind
But at the end of the day,
It is what saturates our mind.
Now I read for myself
I no longer have those dreams
And I do not read into the text
What my denomination gleans.
I still dream, mind you,
But interestingly, not like before
And the Bible is becoming clearer
As I read it more and more.
Stewart Russell © March 21, 2021
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