Where’s the Alternative?

 

 

Is there an alternative

To the present Government?

Please pardon my ignorance

For if so, I repent.

 

I am hearing the call

For an imminent change

As though elections were tomorrow

Or could be so arranged.

 

I’m definitely not happy

With the BLP’s stewardship

But the DLP is surely not ready,

Not the slightest bit.

 

The best we can hope for

Is that they win some seats

For only the insane would want

Another 30-nil defeat.

 

Such unanimous mandates

Is whole sale madness

And I want all Barbadians to hear:

No more and no less.

 

 

 

First time we were angry

With the D's performance

But the B's did nothing spectacular

In their own defense.

 

The blunders were many

Followed up by arrogance

And there was absolutely no trace

Of genuine repentance.

 

Only a God-given right

To do as they all like

And considered any repercussions

To be ignorant and trite.

 

But where’s the alternative

I must reiterate

Though ever since the last election

We are in a worse state.

 

The PM saw it necessary

To call a knee-jerk election

In the midst of the COVID pandemic

Amidst all objection.

 

Three and a half years in

To correct a ten-year mess!

In essence their words, not mine,

But we let it rest.

 

 

 

And rewarded her again

With another 30-nil mandate

Demonstrating, lessons not learned,

Do not alter one’s state.

 

And so, we remain stuck

Like the proverbial top-in-mud

Repeatedly ineffectively regurgitating

Like a cow chewing its cud.

 

The only difference being,

This benefits the cow

But unless we’re of that bovine species

It benefits us nohow.

 

I heard a former PM

Regarding the DLP’s plight

And I must assuredly confess

That he was right.

 

 

They must assert themselves

And return to their roots,

Eight “P” principles he gave them

Concerning the DLP’s truth.

 

Starting with power

He ended with projection

And he wrapped them neatly up

In the party’s self-assertion.

 

The party has done well,

It can rise from the dust

But must soar above egotistical strife

And its attendant lust.

 

Let me however end this

Exactly as I started out

And I dare say that I am doing this

For those still in doubt.

 

 

Is there an alternative

To the present Government?

Please pardon my ignorance

For if so, I repent.

 

Stewart Russell © August 24, 2024

 

Impudence and Impedance

 

 

Impudence and Impedance:

Both can be shocking,

Don’t ever mix-up the two, though,

You’d leave people rocking.

 

 

 

Rocking with laughter, I mean,

At your ignorance

Not knowing how to use the two

At that particular instance. 

 

You’d find both in the classroom

As well as in the church

And if either ever get out of hand,

You may need an expert.

 

 

 

They are in the home too

And can give an unwelcome sound,

And in either case exercise caution

When children are around.

 

A child may be reprimanded

Because of his impudence,

That teacher is well within his right

To deal with insolence.

 

Teachers are strictly forbidden

To administer corporal punishment

So, children sometimes get away

With the occasional impudence.

 

However, impedance is different

And not nearly as forgiving,

For an impudent, hard-ears child,

It could be quite shocking.

 

 

The body conducts electricity

Whether direct or alternating,

With the former we may not feel it

But the latter can be shocking.

 

And so, it is very important,

To ensure safeguards are in place

Especially when children are present

In any electrical space.

 

Impudence is childish behavior

While the amount of current is impedance,

Both can be shocking, don’t forget,

And are oppose to resistance.

 

 

Both create lines in the face

While one travels along lines

But don’t mix up the two, I caution you,

At any given time.

 

Stewart Russell © August 24, 2023

 

A Discernible Historical Cycle

 

 

Phases of this Cycle

 

Acknowledgement

 

Indifference

 

Ignorance

 

Doubt

 

Denial

 

Irritation

 

Affirmation

 

Acknowledgement

 

Dr. Robert A. Morey

Death and the Afterlife

  

In his book “Death and the Afterlife”

Dr. Robert A. Morey posits

A cycle across the Christian Church eras

That has become a habit.

 

This cycle, Dr. Morey contends,

Pertains to the issue of hell:

How belief goes through these stages-

And I think I understand him well.

 

However, I wish to make the leap

And extend it even beyond,

For many things we once held dear

Are either going or gone.

 

And so, this presentation

Will not identify all these issues

But will use Dr. Robert Morey’s cycle

To help us to catch the view.

 

Seven stages or phases, he cited

That a people will go through

From acknowledgement to confirmation

Before starting the cycle anew.

 

The nature of hell and its reality

Is the issue that he describes

But there are several other matters

To which this can be ascribed.

 

The Trinity for example

Or, salvation by faith through grace,

The ongoing matter of eternal security

And whether always saved is safe.

 

Once there was certainty

And we stood in acknowledgement

But after taking it for granted,

In came indifference.

 

We developed the assumption

It would be forever understood

And we did not treat to the new recruits

In the way that we truly should.

 

Due diligence went out the door,

We assumed everybody knew

So, we left off that particular matter

And took up another issue.

 

Indifference led to ignorance

After all, how would they have known

When the ones principally responsible

Had not these truths shown?

 

Hence, these wandering sheep,

Now ignorant of the shepherd’s ways

Continue in their presumed ignorance;

No longer reluctant strays.

 

As a consequence of their ignorance

These initiates begin to doubt,

They are unable to defend themselves-

Lack of knowledge weakens clout.

 

Doubt as the Bible shows

Was Israel’s greatest undoing,

Doubt dogged their tracks persistently

And their unbelief was unending.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

From indifference to ignorance,

Doubt has now set in

And there is little resistance.

 

 

Like Humpty Dumpty on the wall

They have taken the inevitable fall,

They now gravitate towards practices

The body once appalled.

 

They are in militant denial

And now willing to fight for the wrong,

They call good evil and evil good

And in this they are very strong.

 

In here I slip in the gender issue:

Gender confusion I say,

Once not even voiced in the Church-

It’s now some believers’ way.

 

Denying God’s original template

Based on Adam and Eve,

We now have not only Adam and Steve

But Eve and Genevieve.

 

But there is irritation for some:

Maybe a relative few

Ready to strengthen what remains

And reinstate the Bible view.

 

The upsurge of evil in our world

Should rub us in the wrong way,

Not as a soothing and fragrant lotion

In the case of lesbians and gays.

 

They need the guiding light:

That perpetual light is Jesus Christ:

The one who is faithful in the here and now

As well as in the afterlife.

 

After irritation comes confirmation

The last in this historical cycle,

It is the time of necessary refocusing

For God’s adoptive people.

 

In confirmation of those things vital

To living the Christian life,

And the spinal cord of the Christian faith,

The atonement of Jesus Christ.

 

In acknowledgement of his return

When he shall come to claim his prize,

When the born again of faith’s household

With their Saviour shall arise.

 

At which stage we are now

May vary from place to place

But the immorality some are pushing

Is nothing short of disgrace.

 

From acknowledgement to indifference

To ignorance then doubt,

Denial, irritation and confirmation

Before this cycle runs out.

 

Then it’s back to acknowledgement

Beginning the cycle all over again,

How great it would be simply to remove

Some carriages from this train?

 

Delete indifference and ignorance

As well as doubt and denial,

Then add irritation to these four

Thus, shortening this cycle.

 

We are left with just two:

Acknowledgement and confirmation-

The Scriptures speak to both of these

In the matter of our salvation.

 

Stewart Russell © July 4, 2023

 

Of Ignorance and Arrogance

 

 

If we were true to ourselves

We would readily confess our ignorance

But alas, that would be too deflating

Since we are so full of arrogance.

 

Ignorance and arrogance

From all appearances walk hand-in-hand

Where ignorance is the default

And arrogance the product plan.

 

The outcome is precious little

But a litany of woes and failures,

The only success there being

The square peg in a round hole picture.

 

Ignorance we can understand

Everybody is to some extent

But what gives us all the creeps

Is ignorance with an arrogant bent.

 

We are all particularly familiar

With the term “wrong and strong”,

How oft have we had to use it?

Almost daily as we walk along.

 

It is rife among politicians

Especially them that have lost their way

But it is also prevalent in the church,

We see it each and every day.

 

 

Said the sparrow to the dove

Let me teach you to build a nest,

Said the dove to the sparrow

At that I am truly the best.

 

To this day the dove is nest-less

Unlike the sparrow of course,

Ignorance was the dove’s hallmark

And its arrogance made it worse.

 

It’s “not knowing that you know not”

But believing that you do

And making those that probably know

Believe that you know too.

  

Arrogance is a pseudo confidence

Or confidence in appearance,

It is the dangerous kind of ignorance

On account of its unsuspecting pretense.

 

It has toppled many a Government

And has caused many a defeat

Often to a less capable opponent

Whom the proponent did regularly beat.

 

 

Arrogance is over confidence

The battle is as good as done,

One’s ignorance of his opponent

Makes him feel the battle is already won.

 

Goliath, will you stop and answer?

Your name has just been called,

You under estimated a shepherd boy

And you experienced a horrific fall.

 

How often we are guilty of this!

Ignorant and arrogant too,

No need for another’s counsel

Considering we have a watertight view.

 

King Saul in the Bible comes to mind

He was ignorant and arrogant too

Consistently ignoring Samuel’s instruction

While blinded by his uninformed view.

 

 

Solomon is an example of the opposite

His ignorance he readily confessed,

He yearned for wisdom and understanding

And God graciously granted his request.

 

The LORD is the source of true wisdom

And as such arrogance has no part,

Ignorance is progressively deleted

Which promotes an understanding heart.

 

Let us then be true to ourselves

And readily confess our ignorance,

Trust Almighty God to lead the way

And do away with our silly arrogance.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2018

 

 

Which Church?

“I hear the church shut down

They could o’ do that ever since,

They aren’t serving much purpose

And they don’t make any sense.

They have ulterior motives;

Money is everything,

They faithfully support their leaders

So they can have a fling.

So as far as I am concerned

The church could remain shut down,

Much of its activity, anyhow,

Only causes me to frown.”

I hear you loud and clear

Your position appears to be strong,

No doubt many support you

But you are so wrong.

I have a question for you

Because I see your ignorance,

On which church, I ask,

Are you basing your stance?

Is it the one you see

As you daily commute?

Like the ones that populate Barbados

Almost too varied to compute?

Well, here is our signal difference

Please hear me well,

Your church is a building;

It is on this point you fell.

If that were the church

We would be most miserable,

No wonder the ones who hold such

Are a dissatisfied people.

That’s why they complained

When the buildings were closed

And felt there was some hidden agenda

That needed to be exposed.

And even if there were,

What would it really have mattered

Besides the startling fact

That it would be empty chatter?

I may be flying over your head

So let me come in and land

Since the purpose of this discourse

Is to help you understand...

That the church can’t be closed

By any woman or man,

The church I am speaking of

Is a Divinely conceptualized plan.

It is the bride of Christ,

For which he gave his life,

You would recall his crucifixion:

His ultimate sacrifice.

The temple was destroyed;

Don’t replace it with an edifice,

For however grand it might look,

There is much you would miss.

It is not a building, my friend,

That houses the church

But the temple of a born-again believer

As the Apostle Paul exhorts.

Which church, I ask again,

Now that you are better informed?

By now you should realize

That there is only one.

It is not a church building

Like you thought before,

And no Government authority

Can close its door.

Jesus is building his church

One believer at a time

And it comprises all those believers

Whose hearts to him are inclined.

Stewart Russell © June 2020

Neither of Us the Wiser

How oft have you been asked

A question you could not answer

And when you shared your ignorance

There was laughter as well as banter?

Your interrogator had expected then

That the answer you should know,

He may not have known the answer

But he never let it show.

If you had supplied the answer

He would have come to know it too

But neither of you became the wiser

Since he was trying to outsmart you.

If information was readily shared

We would be much further along

The path that leads to more knowledge

And you and I would both be strong.

But instead we pretend to know

Or hide that which we do

Then try to get what another has

With selfishness blocking our view.

The purpose of this poem is simple

And very short it will be

So when you hear the advice it offers

Adjust your thinking speedily.

If we share with one another

The knowledge that we have gained

We would all be the wiser for it

And the more knowledge we would retain.

But if we try to deprive another

Of the knowledge we possess

Neither of us would be the wiser

And we’d rob each other of our best.

So that next time you’re asked a question

And of the answer you are sure

Share it with the other person

And together you’ll be learning more.

Stewart Russell © October 2017