My Kind of Students

 

 

Easy to teach

And eager to learn,

These are the kind of students

For which teachers yearn.

 

Sometimes wrong

But mostly right,

An absolute joy to teach;

Oh, what delight!

 

Every one different

Yet quite alike,

All coming with cups upturn

To learn the right.

 

Intrigued by school

And making friends,

Cooperating with one another

To solve problems…

 

In Mathematics

And in other subjects,

And learning that everyone

Is due respect.

 

 

 

A listening ear

With controlled lips,

Taking in their learning

Bit by bit.

 

Dedicated to task

Completion, their goal

And in standing for justice,

Being bold.

 

Helpful and empathic,

A sense of fairness,

While striving at all times

To do their best.

 

Childlike in behaviour

As opposed to childish

And working to make dreams

More than a wish.

 

 

Easy to teach

And eager to learn,

These are the kind of students

For which teachers yearn.

 

Stewart Russell © February 20, 2025

 

No Truth

 

Some believe the only truth

Is that there is no truth

And that for them, they also say,

Is the only absolute.

 

Of this, they are sure

That there is no absolute truth

Except of course, this absolute truth

And, therein is their proof.

 

So for every rule, they also say

There is at least one exception.

Is this true? I would ask,

Or just a generalization?

 

Is a generalization a truth

Or just a mere existing fact?

If a generalization is a truth,

How can we have that?

 

Is truth and fact one and alike?

This is the timely question,

Would the answer be absolute

Or only an impression?

 

Nothing but the truth, he swore,

 But it he couldn’t tell,

Anything he said, would be lies

He knew that quite well.

 

There can be no justice

If there is no truth,

No kind of evidence

Could be offered as proof.

 

Hence the “F” is missing

From the Law

And what we now have

Is the “Flaw”.

 

 

Hence the missteps!

Since there is no absolute truth

It’s the “Flaw” that guides

And no such thing as proof.

 

Trapped is the spider

In its own web

And the fly, this time,

Will be sumptuously fed.

 

How things turn around

When there is no truth!

You don’t have to look far

To find the proof.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

My Court Case

 

 

I sat in a court

Full of my peers,

Acquaintances, church brethren

And family were there,

 

A case called to decide

Whether I was crazy or not,

Please don’t be in a hurry

To determine my lot.

 

It was no one off incident

The prosecutor said

And I turned to see everyone

Nodding his head.

 

Up and down they nodded

Not left to right

And I recognized the magnitude

Of this legal fight.

 

I was unrepresented

So I was on my own

But I intended to fight it

Though all alone.

 

 

“For what am I being charged?”

I asked in my defense,

“For being crazy,”

This was the prosecutor’s offense.

 

“How can that be?”

I asked with incredulity,

Then pointed to all in court

And asked why only me.

 

“The mere fact of this case

Says the law must be crazy,

A court full of crazy people

And you charge only me.”

 

The judge tapped his gavel

On the table in front

And then complimented me

For making that point.

 

The prosecutor was enraged

And called the judge crazy

And the next thing I know

The court was in a frenzy.

 

 

“Order in the court!”

The judge called again and again

And when order was restored

He said, “You are all insane.”

 

During all of this racket

I was as quiet as can be

Whereupon the judge shouted out,

“You are all crazy!”

 

The prosecutor told the judge

“You should be on trial,”

And that’s when I observed

That they were both in denial.

 

The judge charged the prosecutor

For contempt of court,

The prosecutor shouted, “I appeal!

You got to be making sport.”

 

I sat there in court

With all these mad people at large,

The judge included

And I was the only one charged.

 

You must now be thinking

“What can this outcome be?”

What is there to think about?

They exonerated me.

 

Just my brief submission

Introduced by a single question,

And even the judge

Should be charge with dereliction.

 

 

“For what am I being charged?”

That is all I had asked

And that question alone

Had ripped off their masks.

 

I took over the bench

And reprimanded that court

For wasting my time

And making mock sport.

 

So all who think I am crazy

Examine yourself!

Mine is out in the open

But you operate with stealth.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019

 

 

What A Façade!

 

 

Delay of gratification

Delay of results

Delay of justice

Oh, what an insult!

 

Delay of compassion

Delay of assistance

Delay of doing right

With deliberate insistence.

 

Removal of rights

And the promotion of wrong,

The discoloration of truth-

Everything belongs.

 

What a farce!

What a façade!

Unrighteousness trumps truth

And many are glad.

 

Money, the bottom line

And the top line view,

In the so-called church

And in Parliaments too.

 

 

Money mek de mare fly

And lots more as well

And as the opportunists get richer,

Ain’t nuttin dey won’t sell.

 

Every man has a price

That is what they say,

Never mind how good he may be

He’ll change if you pay.

 

This is really sad

If it is truly so,

Particularly to the church

It’s like a death-blow.

 

What a farce! 

What a façade!

Who or what to believe?

Boy, tings bad!

 

 

I can give a solution

But a mind tells me don’t

And even though I am not sure,

I believe I won’t.

 

You’ve heard it before

I have no doubt,

If you are a part of the mess

It’s time to get out.

 

The ‘it’ in the last verse

Refers to the solution,

However, let me emphatically say,

It’s not absolution.

 

Stewart Russell © January, 2024

 

Isn’t This Weird?

 

 

The king made a decree

Which his subject did contravene

And his kingdom waited expectantly

For the inevitable scene.

 

Depending on the offense

It could be a flogging or even death

But sometimes at the king’s discretion,

Incarceration might be best.

 

The punishment for this crime

Was a flogging in the public square

Which the old and decrepit subject

Was clearly unable to bear.

 

But the decree must be upheld

For it carried the seal of the king,

There was no way of escaping the flogging

Unless somebody stood in for him.

 

But surely, he would die

A death not befitting his crime

And this small matter of an injustice

Held the kingdom in a bind.

 

The king made one last call

For a family member or a friend

That would be willing to take the flogging

In place of old emaciated Ben.

 

Family members there were

But there was nary a single friend

Whereupon the king decided

To bring the matter to its end.

 

He stepped into the public square

In his hand was the royal strap,

He quickly stripped the clothes away

From off his kingly back.

Then turning to the offender, he said

For you I’ll take the flogging,

This took his subjects by surprise

As it was quite mind-boggling.

 

For the king had done no wrong

Yet this man’s punishment he took,

He, it was, that had made this law

And he played it by the book.

 

“The soul that sins it shall die”

This was the penalty God prescribed,

Eternal death was our just desert

And justice could not be denied.

 

 

Hence, walk Jesus up Calvary’s hill

His back was already laid bare,

Beaten, ridiculed and finally crucified

As to that cross he was nailed.

 

In giving His Son God gave himself

And became the sacrificial lamb,

And in this way His justice was served

In implementing salvation’s plan.

 

Isn’t this weird, I ask again,

That a king for His subjects would die,

Suffering under His own decree

That His justice would be satisfied?

 

It’s a thought that’s too deep for us

And hence, we consider it weird,

But only God could have done as much

That’s why none with Him compares.

 

 

Only God can satisfy His own justice

Concomitantly, not one of us could,

Hence, the offer of His Son for you and me

On that rugged cross of wood.

 

Stewart Russell © November 18, 2020

No Truth

 

 

Some believe the only truth

Is that there is no truth

And that for them, they also say,

Is the only absolute.

 

Of this, they are sure

That there is no absolute truth

Except of course, this absolute truth

And, therein is their proof.

 

So for every rule, they also say,

There is at least one exception.

Is this true? I would ask,

Of just a generalization?

 

Is a generalization a truth

Or just a mere existing fact?

If a generalization is a truth,

How can we have that?

 

Is truth and fact one and alike?

That’s the timely question,

Would the answer be absolute

Or only an impression?

 

Nothing but the truth, he swore,

 But it he couldn’t tell,

Anything he said, would be lies

He knew that quite well.

 

There can be no justice

If there is no truth,

No kind of evidence

Could be offered as proof.

 

Hence the “F” is missing

From the Law

And what we now have

Is the “Flaw”.

 

 

Hence the missteps!

Since there is no absolute truth

It’s the “Flaw” that guides

And no such thing as proof.

 

Trapped is the spider

In its own web

And the fly, this time,

Will be sumptuously fed.

 

How things turn around

When there is no truth!

You don’t have to look far

To find the proof.

 

 

Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

Those Three Words

 

 

Those three words, can you guess?

No, it is not the song,

It is not the popular “I Love You”

So my friend, we will move along.

 

Actually it’s about a friend

Who is not a friend at all,

People’s infatuations with this friend

Usually precede their fall.

 

He is a friend who means no good

Already you would have met him,

For the record though, let me say

He is the reason for our sin.

 

He is known by many names

Like Lucifer, the devil and Satan

And in the book of Revelation

He is also called Apollyon.

 

There are three facts I know of him

And they three are negative,

These are characteristics of Almighty God

But not one can Satan give.

Let us look at those three words

Justice, mercy and grace,

Not one does the devil exhibit

Not since he was cast into space.

The devil knows no justice

He does not have a clue,

He received his just desserts

Unlike me and you.

 

We were spared God’s justice

When Jesus died upon the cross,

God’s justice was satisfied

But it was at an infinite cost.

 

Satan’s plan is to kill us

Ever since God’s judgment on him,

He got just what he deserves

But we can be saved from sin.

 

From him don’t expect any justice

It is not part of his makeup,

If you get into a league with him

Yours will be a bitter cup.

 

 

For Satan shows no mercy

He doesn’t possessed a modicum,

Yes, he appears as an angel of light

 But when you see him it’s time to run.

 

Mercy is not his to give

And he prides himself on that,

Were it not for his deception

Many would note that fact.

 

He is desperate to entrap us

Since God has shown us mercy

Satan wishes he could have had

But that is not a possibility.

 

No justice and no mercy

Satan is a dunce,

He recalls what he had in heaven

Now all that is renounced.

 

 

Satan knows no grace

To him God’s grace extends not,

Ever since he fell from heaven

Hell is his eternal lot.

 

If you happen to meddle with him

I warn you to expect no grace,

He will promise to you the world

But remember he is two-faced.

 

No justice, no mercy, no grace

In Satan, there’s not even a trace,

Deception is his pedigree

And such cannot be replaced.

 

Stewart Russell © September 2019