Lifetime Learning

 

 

Live going forward

And learn from the back,

Don’t dwell on the past

And what that past lacked.

 

The past can hinder

What the future can achieve

If in the present

You refuse to believe.

 

Undoing is impossible,

What is passed is passed,

Don’t burn your bridges

And stay on task.

 

Lifetime learning

Must be always the goal,

Journey one step at a time

Move from pole to pole.

 

Put God first

In all that you do,

Search His life manual

To find all that is true.

 

Plan for the long term

But walk in increments

And maximize the learning

Of your life’s events.

 

Observe life’s balance

And the tensions at play,

Do not overdo or underdo

Take it day by day!

 

Make some things happen

Do not just wait

And make a positive input

Regarding your fate.

 

Fate does play a part

Yes, I believe this is true

But I also do believe

There is much one can do.

 

We can shape the future

By the ongoing present

Through our acting decisively

And not mere intent.

 

 

Intent is in the mind

But if that’s all intent is

It will not make a difference

To our well-to-do list.

 

The road to failure

Is strewn with good intent

And with armchair critics

That entered no events.

 

Lifetime learning

Is about learning to forgive

And very often too,

To live and let live.

 

Give good counsel

But don’t live another’s life

For such is truly impossible

And causes more strife.

 

Disputes of the past!

Don’t let them eat you out

But do what you possibly can

For a positive turn-about.

 

Be contented where you are

With a view to move on

And once opportunities arise

Press on!  Press on!

 

Stewart Russell © February 12, 2022

 

According to Micah

 

Here is a quote

That I picked up from Micah

And for this day and age

I think it is particularly vital.

 

“Delayed obedience is disobedience.”

Are Micah’s exact words,

I have no doubt at some point

These words you would have heard.

 

And it is important I must add,

The words fitted the occasion:

An occasion of delayed obedience

Hence, his appropriate admonition.

 

When I was a very young lad

I had to obey on the instant,

No break between command and response;

Not even a hint of reluctance.

 

Or else I would regret the act:

Perhaps, a lash or slap

Or, sometime when I was unaware

A strap along my back.

 

 

So, I heeded Micah’s advice

Unlike his bigger sister,

I hated my skin to be marked

By either welts or blisters.

 

You won’t find this in the Bible:

This quote I got from Micah,

For Micah is just a little lad

Though a rather charming fella.

 

Apparently, as I heard it,

He had given his sister an ultimatum

However, she was slow to respond

And he quickly saw her problem.

 

 

Can you imagine a three-year old

Reprimanding his older sibling?

“Delayed obedience is disobedience”

In her ears that should ring.

 

No doubt hearing it repeatedly

It was now stuck in his head

So that when his sister ran afoul,

That was what he said.

 

“Out of the mouths of babes”

Or, “a little child shall lead them”,

It matters not the source of good counsel,

Not to heed it causes problems.

 

 

Not from the prophet, Micah

But from a three-year old lad,

If you have a problem with his advice

I consider that bad.

 

Stewart Russell © August 16, 2020