Come Apart or Fall Apart

 

 

This world is a rat-race

Driven by fierce competition,

Its constituents are obsessed

With personal ambition.

 

Sinner and saint alike

Working twenty-four-seven,

Both trying to make of this world

Their respective heaven.

 

Both putting in the effort

To accumulate great wealth

While both are seemingly unaware

Of their decreasing health.

 

Refusing to come apart

And therefore, falling apart,

Overworking their mortal brain

And stressing out their heart.

 

 

The result, as is expected,

Are numerous strokes

And heart attacks more frequently

In even young folks.

 

Rest is very essential

As well as periodic reflection

And neither is remotely possible

Without intervention.

 

Warning lights are blinking

Alarms are going off

But no letting up coming soon

Until our river is crossed.

 

Evident are the wrecks

Of those that fell apart

Disregarding all the warning signs

That urged to come apart.

 

Even Jesus in his ministry

Took time to come apart

And did the same with his disciples

So they won’t fall apart.

 

 

But we are workaholics

And often we’re proud to be

And while our health goes into decline,

It is never suddenly.

 

Come apart I urge you

Or you will eventually fall apart,

Reflection is a brain activity

Supported by the heart.

 

Mark 6:31

 

And he said unto them,

Come ye yourselves apart

Into a desert place,

And rest a while.

 

Stewart Russell © June 15, 2024

 

Come Ye Apart

 

 

Come ye apart!

Not in the midst of the fray

But to a deserted place

And for a while, stay.

 

“Come ye yourselves apart”

The exact words of Jesus,

Still very applicable today

For every one of us.

 

Not amidst the tumult

But “into a desert place,”

Away from the much activity

That is your daily haste.

 

“And rest a while”

The purpose of coming apart,

No doubt to guard against

An overworked heart.

 

Jesus encountered hunger

During his earthly ministry,

And fatigue he also experienced

In his humanity.

 

Pain was his companion

Throughout the crucifixion,

That he even fell beneath the cross

Was no exaggeration.

 

 

To come ye apart

Is in fact to come away

And in doing this, my friend,

Mentally forget the fray.

 

Meaning from the noisy battle

Whatever that conflict be

And the admonition to rest,

To take it seriously.

 

A tired-out soldier at best

Can never be at his best

Thus, it is of critical importance

To “come ye apart” and rest.

 

Are you a workaholic?

Do you feel work will spoil?

Do you take time off to simmer

Or always on the boil?

 

Rest is a natural medication

That every one of us needs,

Forced rest is never the best way

So, please hear my pleas.

 

 

“Come ye yourselves apart”

And rest for a little while,

It will put a pep in your step

And on your face a smile.

 

Many a footsore soldier

That died in the midst of battle

Might have gone on a little longer

Prior to the death rattle…

 

Had he taken time to rest

And allow his batteries to recharge,

More alert he would have been

And surely more on guard.

 

This need not be you!

Not having read this poem,

If this is your trouble now

Rest will cure the problem.

 

Mark 6:31

 

And Jesus said unto them,

Come ye yourselves apart

into a desert place,

and rest a while.

 

Stewart Russell © January 9, 2022