Mary’s Ordeal

 

 

Betrothed to one person

And pregnant for another,

Can’t you see the dire implication

And why I was bothered?

 

Joseph was a good man

And didn’t deserve this

And I was virtually out of my mind

When the period I missed.

 

I had been faithful

And a virgin I still was

But just imagine all the chatter-

The incessant buzz.

 

Who would believe me?

Joseph certainly did not

And being the kind of gentleman

He couldn’t let it drop.

 

Even after I told him

What the angel had said,

He still thought of breaking it off

Privately instead.

 

He did not make a fuss

And appeared quite calm

But I knew he felt disappointed;

He was a man.

 

But God told him

To still take me as his wife,

I am sure some of you would say,

Not on your life.

 

Well Joseph did

As history has shown

And in my pregnancy, you’d recall

I had to leave home.

 

 

 

We went to Bethlehem

To be registered

And it was there in that little town

That I delivered.

 

 

 

You view the nativity

And you do so with delight

But you do not have the first clue

Concerning my plight.

 

Innkeeper after innkeeper

Just turned us away

And not one of them would give to us

Even the time of day.

 

 

When at our wit’s end,

One had compassion

And my precious baby was born

In the unlikeliest fashion.

 

Dried hay for a bed

And for a crib, a manger,

Yes, in an animal’s feeding trough

Lay our Saviour.

 

The Saviour of the world

And my Saviour as well

As in the reflective Magnificat

I also did tell.

 

This was not a fanfare

But more so an ordeal,

Even after the father of my son

Was revealed.

 

 

 

I kept it all to myself

And inwardly pondered

While nursing my tiny baby boy

And my Saviour.

 

The ordeal that this was

Could not compare

With the fact that God in the flesh

Was finally here.

 

I was the chosen one

Though without merit

To be the mother of the Messiah,

Holy Spirit’s deposit.

 

Stewart Russell © December 21, 2025

 

No Lot o’ Long Talk

 

“Did God really say?”

What an introduction!

And with that, Eve’s brain-gears

Spun into action

God had spoken clearly

Eve had clearly understood

But that wily serpent, the devil,

Got under Eve’s hood.

“Did God really say that?

I wonder why would He,

Considering the fact

That it is He who made the tree?

“Why would He, pray tell me,

In this beautiful garden put a tree

And then instruct you and Adam

To see and don’t see?

It doesn’t make sense to me

And it doesn’t sound like God,

Unless of course...”

More doubt injected the fraud.

“Unless of course... of course

He wants to toy with you.

Why else would he tell you, don’t

And then put the tree in plain view?

I will tell you something

It will do you well to believe.

God is hiding something from you

That He has and you don’t, Eve.

God knows if you eat of that tree

You will become like God.”

You see, Satan had tried it and failed

But after all he is the Fraud.

If only Eve had known

What Satan knew,

She would have obeyed God

But she hadn’t a clue.

Why didn’t God warned her

About this subtle creature?

Surely it would have helped

If she had seen the whole picture.

But God held back information

That was important to Eve

And the devil capitalized on it

And Eve was deceived.

So, the devil outsmarted God

To the detriment of Eve

And then God punished Eve

After she was deceived.

So God must take the blame

For Eve’s mistake

Even though the news Satan brought

Was the kind they call fake.

We made the same blunder

Maybe even today,

God gave us an instruction

And we disobeyed.

Next we blamed God

For the trouble that came

And accused the Holy Spirit

For not playing our game.

Eve was given a clear directive

She should have obeyed

But like us, she spent time with Satan

Day after day.

Which brings me to the point

That I really want to make,

That we throw words at God

But the devil we won’t forsake.

Our conversations with the devil

Originate in our heart

And while we give God lip honor

We never bid Satan depart.

  

The heart is the principal thing

When we talk to God

But more often than not,

That’s how we engage the Fraud.

Eve spent too much time

Talking to him

And with that came

The all embracing sin.

It is not for us to understand why

When God gives a directive

 But obey it to the letter

And let it be instructive.

Satan does what he has to do

Because he has limited time,

And he is not as smart as you think

For his tricks are one of a kind.

It’s the same old trick he put to Eve

It’s getting us to doubt

But we need to put him in his place

By simply saying, “Get out!”

Get out of my conversations!

Get out of my life!

Get of my home

And away with your strife!

Get out of our schools

And out of our churches too!

Jesus is our Saviour

And there’s nothing you can do.

 No lot o’ long talk

Neither from the lips nor the heart,

And when you get tired saying, “Get out!”

Just simply say, “Depart!”

Stewart Russell © October 2019