Discerning the Real

 

I know the title is strange

But this is where we are today,

The real is not easily distinguished

When feelings get in the way.

 

A feeling is only as real

As the feeling you are feeling

When you are feeling

The feeling you are feeling.

 

This is sometimes more

That what some people can take

And as a result

They rush off to tempt fate.

 

One’s feeling and reality

Are in fact, two different things,

And not seeing the difference

Can bring much suffering.

 

What if I feel I am a bird

Does that make me one?

Try putting that to the acid test

And for sure you’d be gone.

 

 

What if you are a male

But are feeling a female inside

Wouldn’t it make sense to get help

Rather than the feeling imbibed?

 

Feeling might be your reality

But if it is not real

Even your superhero attempts

Are likely to fail.

 

Feelings,

Nothing more than feelings

Is ample enough ammunition

To send a person reeling.

 

Fake it till you make it

Does not work with one’s gender,

You are what the equipment says

Even though a pretender.

 

The equipment qualifies you

Regardless of how you may feel,

And that penis says boy or man

And this is a done deal.

 

No surgical procedures

Will change your cell structure,

Your DNA is your birth stamp;

It’s your real picture.

 

Feeling is not a fact

But one’s DNA is, my friend,

And what it said at the beginning

It will say at your end.

 

Absolutely poor is the argument

That “feelings” is who we are

For such is more like the moon

Claiming to be a star.

 

It has no light of its own

And thus, must depend on the sun

And if the sun refuses to shine

Alas, the moon has none.

 

To conceive a man can conceive

Is to conceive a colossal lie

For such will only be possible

When the eagle births a fly.

 

All of this so-called science

That we say that we are following

Is nothing more than a cheap thrill

For all who are swallowing.

 

A feeling is just a feeling,

A feeling is never a fact

Other than the fact you are feeling

And a feeling is just that.

 

If you feel like you are a female

But trapped in a male body,

Your equipment proves you wrong

Unless you are a dummy.

 

 

If your genitalia say female

But you are otherwise inclined,

Then you are not being wise at all

If you follow right behind.

 

If your feelings get ahead

Please stand back and watch,

It is easier to live with your feelings

Than to be what you are not.

 

One race and two genders only

Are all there will ever be,

In His own image God created man

And this is the reality.

 

Having a woman’s equipment

Cannot a real man make,

The most you’ll get for your trouble

Will be a real-life fake.

 

 

And if an appendage is obvious

You will never be a female,

Notwithstanding the millions spent

To create your fairy tale.

 

Now let the Word of God speak

As only God’s Word can,

A man can never ever be a woman

Or can a woman be a man.

 

Genesis 1:27; 5:2

 

God Created man in His own image,

In the image of God created He him;

Male and female created He them

And bless them and call their name Adam

In the day when they were created.

 

Matthew 19:4

 

And he answered and said unto them,

Have ye not read,

That he which made them at the beginning

Made them male and female.

 

Romans 3:4

 

Let God be true

But every man a liar!

 

Remember, my erudite friend,

An opinion is not a fact,

Neither is your feeling the reality

Because you say it is that.

 

Stewart Russell © November 24, 2022

 

The Marathon Part 3

THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT... (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

...BUT HE THAT ENDURES TO THE END SHALL BE SAVED 

(Matthew 10:22)

Nathaniel drew out his map once again.  He had come to a fork in the course.  Here he read “I rested here and I drank.  Up ahead is steep and slippery ground.  I did not make it at the first attempt.  I tried and tried again.”  Nathaniel rested and many passed him by.  A friend rested with him.

Refreshed, they continued together.  The slippery climb was all that its previous conqueror said it would be.  Determination, courage and patience saw Nathaniel up and over.  He left many washed up competitors in his wake.  The climb was too much for them.  They chose to give up, concede defeat rather than to patiently try and try again.

Nathaniel came to a crossroads.  Withdrawing his map from his pocket, he read, “I passed here.  I took time to ponder my decision.  I was not rushed.  The easy way is not always the best way."  To the left of the crossroads was all down hill and the scenery was beautiful.  To the right was a level smooth road.  Just the kind of refreshing relief after the punishment they had already taken.  Straight ahead was swampy terrain, might I add, with several traps and snares.  To the right and left, he saw many competitors disappearing in the distance.  

Nathaniel chose to go straight ahead.  His friend accompanied him.  There was no one up ahead.  It was just Nathaniel and his friend.  There, right in the swamp, he spotted a path.  It was a path of stones.  As he stepped from one stone to the other, he recognized that "what is apparent is not always the reality" and so he continued steadfastly.  And right there with him was his friend.

Meanwhile, Simon was encountering all kinds of problems.  At the cross roads, he had chosen the right turn.  It had taken him along a smooth, level path at first, but suddenly he found himself meandering along some winding turns.

These turns and twists eventually took him into a network of paths.  'Now which one do I take?" he wondered.  "They all look so alike."  He decided on one but it just led him around and around.  He took out his map.  He had not looked at it for at least three hours.  He traced his finger along the path from the beginning of the course.  He realized that he had gone wrong at the crossroads.  'Should I have gone straight ahead?" he asked himself quizzically.  "But straight ahead was swamp land."  It was then that he saw the words in fine print, "The easy way is not always the best."  "Gosh!" he concluded, "I should have gone straight ahead."  It was too late however.  Here he was, caught in a maze, a maze from where he did not know the way.  In his moving around, he met with several others who had also become caught in the maze.  "There is a way that seemeth right to a man but the end..." His end was failure in this, his first marathon.  His lot was despair.  If ever he got out of this, how would he be able to face his friends, his fans or those whom he ridiculed?

The coordinators of the race left nothing to chance.  They had provided necessary rescue operations for those who for one reason or another needed such.  Simon would just have to wait until they came and got him as well as the others who took the easy path.  "Easy Street is often not Success Street."

Exiting from the swamp, Nathaniel encountered a steep and winding climb.  At the bottom he looked up.  Up there he saw quite a few competitors.  They lay or sat at the side of the path, their energy sapped and totally exhausted.  Their resolve was now gone and their determination nil.  Nathaniel withdrew his map.  He knew the way he must go but he was merely looking at the fine print.

"I too almost gave up here.  I would have missed the surprise up ahead.  Remember taking your time is not lazy."

Nathaniel came to the brow of the winding climb.  He had passed scores of runners on his ascent.  Every one he passed had strengthened his resolve.  Footsore and weary he cast his eye in the distance.  Not far away he spied a great crowd of spectators.  He dimly made out the words 'THE FINISH’.

  

With renewed determination and effort, Nathaniel trudged his way towards his goal.  As his tired feet crossed the finish line, a great cheer went up.  He was the fifth competitor to finish.  That was not a significant statistic to Nathaniel.  Like Paul, he had run a good race and had finished the course.  The gold was his.  "The race is certainly not to the swift nor the battle to the strong" but in Matthew's words "Those that endureth to the end."

When quizzed concerning the reason for his success, Nathaniel had this to say.

“I heeded the counsel of those who had successfully run before.  I constantly studied my map and I kept running with my friend.”

We really ought to consider these reasons and apply them if we would emulate Nathaniel's success.

WELL DONE NATHANIEL!

Stewart Russell © 1999

                          

The Marathon Part 2

 

THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT... (Ecclesiastes 9:11)

...BUT HE THAT ENDURES TO THE END SHALL BE SAVED 

(Matthew 10:22)

For a period of three weeks preceding the races, sessions were held to provide valuable insights about the race.  These insights included such aspects as race equipment, race obstacles, race strategy and map reading skills.  Among the equipment runners needed was the map of the course.  This was given to every competitor just minutes before the start of the race.  The sessions were conducted by former marathon winners.  It was felt that these made the best instructors since their experience was one of success.  Needless to say, these sessions were very poorly attended.  As a result, very few competitors received the necessary information that was of paramount importance for a successful attempt of this event.

Nathaniel consulted his map for the third time.  He felt quietly confident.  Though this was his first attempt at this test of endurance, he felt as though he had actually competed in the event before.  There was a peculiar peace and calm about him.  Like Simon, he also was seventeen years.  He had a moderate measure of success in athletics, nothing to compare with Simon, however.  Nevertheless, he was aware that this fifteen hundred metres of smooth going was not the end of the race.  His familiarity with his map showed him that up ahead there were many obstacles as well as difficult terrain that would sap his energy and test his mental powers.  Though he could not see Simon or the lead bunch, he knew the race was far from over.  Like Simon, he had trained hard, but unlike Simon, he had attended the pre-race sessions.  Even now, he was not ashamed to be in the backpack, running with a number of older runners and competitive females.  As he ran he had some encouraging words for those with whom he ran.  "Don't despair," he counselled them, 'the winners enclosure’ is big enough for all of us.  Age or sex is not a significant factor here but a determination to compete and to complete."

Well, Simon and several others like himself were just revelling in these conditions.  Perhaps they had either forgotten or were not aware that the beginning of any marathon was the easiest part.  Any novice could begin fast.  But would just any novice last?  This certainly would not apply to Simon.    Simon may have been a novice to this race but he had a wealth of experience generally.  In addition, most of his contemporaries were of the opinion that he was naturally gifted.  He often boasted of it anyway.  A gifted person does not need pre-race sessions of instruction.  He doesn't need older people telling him how they had run the course successfully.  Which of them could boast of a record like his any way?  "Yes, yes," he thought, "I'll show them!"

  

Nathaniel, on the other hand remembered what his instructor had drilled in his head over and over.  "The race is not to the swift nor the battle to the strong."  They pumped in the minds of those who saw it necessary to attend, just eight in number.  'This race is not about the physically strong but the mentally strong.  It is not about the naturally quick but the patiently enduring."  It is not a test of genius but a test of courage."

The course map was an interesting piece of equipment.  It was not just an ordinary map but at certain points in fine print, there were words of encouragement and statements of counsel.  One could be so caught up merely with the course that one either totally ignored the counsel or paid scant attention to the same.  It was there on the map nevertheless.   What the competitors did with it was totally up to them.

Simon now knew the route probably better than anyone else.  From the moment he received his course map he started to memorize the course.  Halfway through, he knew every twist and turn, every climb, every slope and every cul-de-sac.  I might add here, there were several cul-de-sacs.  It was not unusual for a competitor to go along a path he thought was correct, only to find it ended in a cul-de-sac.  It was highly unlikely for this to happen to Simon.  He knew the course like no one else.  Well, so he thought.

By this time the field was well strung out.  The apparent strong far ahead, the not so strong some distance back and the others plodding along as if they were not aware they were contesting a race.  The audible grunts and groans of the competitors could now be heard.  There were gasps of anguish and mouthings of “What am I really doing in this race?”  Some remarked, "This is not a race, this is torture."  Some even questioned the wisdom of the coordinators for having chosen such a course.

To be continued...

Stewart Russell © 1999