This Tongues Thing

 

 

A cut above the rest

Depending on the gift you get,

If it is prophecy or tongues

You are fairly well set.

 

Especially in these days

As we are coming to the end,

Prophecy is the gift that tells one

What is around the bend.

 

“Tongues” is a conversation

Between a person and God,

Nobody knows what was said

Including the one called.

 

No better informed

Are the listeners in this case

But everybody gets into the act

At least merely to save face.

 

It is a skill I have been told

That can easily be taught,

Open your mouth and believe

And the miracle is wrought.

 

I’ve heard of certain schools

That teach tongues by the phrase

And for a nominal fee, of course,

The learner would be amazed.

 

 

 

It is very impressive

To hear a speaker of tongues,

Especially the very fluent ones

That are around.

 

Some will give a phrase

Others will go on for a while

Leaving the listener enchanted

As though a little child.

 

A sure sign of the Spirit

And for some, the only one,

If you’ve not spoken in tongues

You are not truly reborn.

 

I mean “born in the Spirit”:

“Experiencing the new birth”,

A work that comes from heaven

And experienced on earth.

 

If this is really the case

Then I would have to be lost,

Never have I spoken in tongues

Thus, I am short on the cost.

 

 

 

I’ve no witness of the Spirit

If “tongues” is the witness

And like the unsaved non-believer,

I am still in sin’s mess.

 

This tongue thing is trouble

When taken out of context,

No wonder many Christian believers

Find life so complex.

 

They dabble in many things

That they do not understand

Rather than with faith in the Word

Stick to the divine plan.

 

If the charismatic giftings

Are causing us to focus on men

Then I dare say without apology

We have a huge problem.

 

If speaking in tongues

Puts us above all others

Then salvation is of no saving effect

And is become a bother.

 

 

 

If you are representing me

Before the Lord’s throne,

Please speak in the English language

That from a boy I have known.

 

I mean no offence

And I genuinely say so long

But I get no spiritual upliftment

When you speak in tongues.

 

Stewart Russell © September 14, 2023

My Dilemma

 

 

I have a dilemma,

I must return to school,

Come on man, give me a hearing!

I am serious, I am no fool.

 

Forty years as an educator

Imparting what I had learned

And thirteen years prior to that

And now I must unlearn.

 

I must beg your indulgence

As I try to explain myself,

To be quite honest with you

This is affecting my health.

 

Not a problem with Math

At least, not yet,

But a major one with English Language

Which I now have to vet.

 

While back in primary school

I was taught English Language,

Now sixty years thereafter

It’s become difficult to manage.

 

Please, please,

I am getting to the matter,

Just hear me out and after this

I’ll no longer be a bother.

 

As a friend of mine would say

Let us be more specific,

This is about some special pronouns

Including he, she and it.

 

I learnt at school and taught

That ‘he’ is a masculine pronoun

‘She’ is regarded as feminine

And ‘it’ to neither belong.

 

They taught me ‘it’ is neuter

And that I knew for sure,

But neutered keeps on coming up

And I am confused the more.

 

Now these are singular pronouns

But there is the plural case:

Let me now identify these

And this I will do in haste.

 

 

Singular: he, she and it-

Plural: they and them!

I understood this quite readily then

But now I have a problem.

 

Now it seems we aim to please

A certain ‘minority group’

And this my friend, I will tell you,

Is how far we have stooped.

 

They intend to do away

With the ‘he’ and with the ‘she’

And propose that ‘they’ be used inclusively

To accommodate their absurdity.

 

For ‘him’ and ‘her’, I should mention,

We would use the pronoun ‘them’

But for singular and plural

This presents a problem.

 

How would we differentiate

Whether it’s singular or plural?

The way I learnt it back in school

This was rather simple.

 

I say refer to them as ‘it’

If they are neither he nor she

But do not mash up English Language

For this perverted stupidity.

 

So now you see my dilemma

And why I must go back to school,

It’s to unlearn what made sense back then

And now become a fool.

 

Stewart Russell © April 19, 2023

 

Count Down Really On

 

 

Now the countdown is on

Though Christmas is next week,

And though it will fall on a Sunday

I’m looking forward to its treat.

 

You see I’m a Christmas baby

No, not born on Christmas Day,

But like back when I was a little child,

I am extremely happy and gay.

 

Yes, I used the word gay

And I dared to use it deliberately

Because it describes my festive feeling

Most precisely.

 

Throughout the English language

One word may have several meanings

And using the word gay in this context

Must not be seen as demeaning.

 

O yes, the countdown is really on

And there is the Christmas list

Of the many things we need to procure

That we really don’t want to miss.

 

 

There are the ham and turkey

Just to mention two of the meats

And of course, not only for the children,

But for adults, their assorted sweets.

 

The diabetics will go on a splurge

And then storm the doctors’ office

Just after New Year’s Day,

And their medical services enlist.

 

Then of course there is the replacing

Of Christmas lights that shone so bright,

That were working when taken down

But now they give no light.

 

It was only one string last year

But this year two strings must replace it

As we eagerly seek to build up the stock

As is our traditional habit.

 

But while the countdown is on

It is not last-minute shopping yet,

That will come on Christmas Eve;

This is just the getting set”.

 

The countdown is really on,

You can tell by the crowded malls

And by the side of the busy highways

There is many a grocer’s stall.

 

Now, I’m not a crowd participant

But I like watching them from afar

And still get an idea of what they are feeling

From just sitting in my car.

 

 

 

 

No Christmas without the crowds,

Or without the Christmas rush,

All making for great excitement

As towards Christmas we push.

 

The excitement is building up

For the young as well as the old

And, as for the old especially,

These nights are getting cold.

 

These are all signs that tell us

Christmas Day is extremely near

And as countdown to Christmas continues

We are excited to be here.

 

Many have gone to their grave

During the passage of this year,

Quite a few of them because of COVID-19

And we wish they were still here.

 

No countdown for them

And it is with sadness that we reflect

But to be seriously honest this Christmas,

We don’t want to join them yet.

 

The countdown is really on

But be warned my excited friend,

There are some out there among us

Wishing all this would end.

 

They are not excited about Christmas

Like you and I are,

They neither care about the shepherds

Nor the wise men from afar.

 

 

 

They see it as a pagan festival

And as an intolerable waste of time

So that while you and I will be enjoying it,

Something else will occupy their mind.

 

Spare a thought for them

As you are immersed in this countdown

As well as all those that COVID took out

That are no longer around.

 

Stewart Russell © December 19, 2022

 

More on the “X”

 

A little more on the “X”

Not the election this time

But words beginning with it

A little interesting I find

In the first place 

What’s the importance of the “E”?

“X”doesn’t need any help

I am sure you can see

In its original form

“X”comes with an “E”

So why add another?

Just let the “X”be

 With this in mind 

Let’s Xamine the implications

I trust this Xercise

Will pique your imagination

The English language

Is often not Xact

One word several meanings

That’s a fact

Some find this Xciting

I find it Xhausting

And as to using the “E”

I am at a lost

There is no problem with X-ray

Or X-rated for that matter

But we would fret about Xit

And Xact would be a bother

I will give more Xamples

As I Xplain some more

Don’t Xert too much

Or you’ll Xperience boredom

It’s Xceedingly great

When someone Xcels

But there’s an Xception

When they don’t Xecute well

  

Failures are Xcluded

From higher Xams

And are Xhorted to Xhibit

A more Xtensive plan

In our language

Far more anomalies Xist

But you should get the point

From my Xplicable list

You need not be an Xpert

To Xplore

Continue to Xperiment

And you’ll Xcavate some more

I trust my Xposition

Xceeds your Xpectation

And to a great Xtent

Xpounds my Xplanation

I will now Xtricate myself

From this Xpedition

And Xpend my time

In more meaningful Xploration

Here is an Xtra stanza

Though Xtremely Xercising

“X”before a consonant Xcels

Any other is Xasperating

Stewart Russell © May 2018