From Legion to a Legend

You live in a good neighbourhood

He lived among the tombs,

Yours is a life of prospect

His was a life of doom.

He was as strong as strong could be

He would always break his chains,

Psychologist or psychiatrist didn’t matter

Him none of them could tame.

He frequented the mountains

A terrorist wherever he went,

His life was one of terror

Providing Satan with a vent.

He was oft loud and in a rage

He was terrible to the bone

And his unenviable pastime

Was cutting himself with a stone.

One thing could be said for him

He was often on centre stage

Particularly in those times of terror

When he exploded in a rage.

How he had come to be like this

No one seemed to know

But with the help of demons

He was able to stage his show.

No doubt he had a family

And through them a natural birth

For as far as you and I know

That’s how we’re born into the earth.

It is difficult to imagine

That once he was a babe

And was given the kind of loving

That every human craves.

Or perhaps it was never so

Regarding his rearing I mean

And lacking the necessary upbringing

Had become the horror of the scene.

  

That being the nightmarish part

A transformation was about to come

For just stepping off a ship in Galilee

Was Jesus, God’s begotten Son.

Straightway this man confronted him

At first acting respectfully

Acknowledging him as the Son of God

He then complained bitterly.

“Come out of him you unclean spirit

And tell me what is your name.”

“My name is Legion for we are many,”

The demon had made this claim.

And they made a request of Jesus

To let them go into some swine

After which the pigs sped off

Violently down a steep incline.

The pigs all drowned in the lake

That was at the bottom of that incline

And as the people gathered round they saw

The man clothed in his right mind.

He pleaded with Jesus in his request

That he might thus remain with the Lord

But Jesus told him to go to his home

And there he must spread the word.

From terrorist to evangelist,

From bondage to genuine freedom,

From Legion to a legend

This demoniac had met God’s Son.

And so it is with every man

That has come to know the Christ,

A definite change has taken place

Who would think that Legion could be nice?

But such is the power of Jesus

With that divine ability to transform

The chief of the worst of sinners

And calm his raging storm.

You may live in a good neighbourhood,

It may be in the terrace or heights

But without Christ you have no prospect

You are destined to lose life’s fight.

Unless you harken to his word

Another Legion you will be,

Dead in your trespasses and sins

And a spectacle for the world to see.

But from a spectacle to the spectacular

With Christ at centre stage

Your legion of sins would be forgiven,

You’d be cured from your sinful rage.

Just like Legion you’d be a legend

And walk in the way of the righteous,

No longer a child of Satan the devil

But a sinner redeemed by Jesus.

Stewart Russell © July 2017

Peace

I decided to take a journey

 In search for lasting peace

And as you would expect

I started from the east.

Where on this earth

I asked as I passed

Might I find that kind of peace

That is sure to last?

I spoke to a gentleman

Who looked rather “well to do”,

“Where might I find peace?”

I asked, “What is your view?”

With vacant eyes

He replied to me,

“I have accumulated wealth in search of peace

But with no such luck, I guess you can see.”

I met up on a pilot

Who was oft in the air

But the reply he gave me

Left me in despair.

“When I leave the ground,”

He pointed to the sky,

“But the moment that I land

That peace I am denied.”

I met with a ship’s captain

Who had sailed on the high seas,

“No lasting peace no part of the ocean,

Just a trifle given a light breeze.”

I spoke to a philosopher,

I figured he should know,

“I thought I had the answer,” he said,

“But found out it wasn’t so.”

Next on the list was a wise old Rabbi

With head bowed before me he stood,

I waited a bit as he ended his prayer

And then spoke when he said I could.

“Tell me sir,” I inquired of him,

Where might I find your lasting peace?”

“You assume a lot,” he replied to me,

“On such I have no lease.”

My heart really sank

For surely I had thought

Here was my answer

But he left me more distraught.

I continued my journey

While searching my list

When as fate would have it

I came on a psychologist.

“Peace is what you make it,”

He said it with a taunt.

“Just adopt the right frame of mind

And you’ll have all that you want.”

I need not tell you

That his answer offered me no hope

For my mind was so unstable

I was on a slippery slope.

On my journey I continued

With lasting peace as my quest,

Vowing only when I find it

Only then would I rest.

There was a sense of getting nearer

Hence I dare not give up

Until I receive that lasting peace

And drink from its precious cup.

Then I came to a pilgrim

Resolute in his walk,

His determined shuffled suggested

He didn’t have much time to talk.

However I pleaded with him then

To spare me a moment of time

And tell me if he knew where

I could find lasting peace of mind.

With longing eyes he looked at me,

“That’s where I am headed now,” he said.

"I’ve been on this journey quite a while

And it’s all that’s in my head.”

Not long after I came to a church

And there I sat in a pew

Hoping that after the service

I could obtain the minister’s view.

He met me at the door

And greeted me with a smile

And even before I could ask

Offered to share with me a while.

“I know what you need,” he said to me.

“You’re obviously searching for a church,

Join up with us and you’ll not regret

You’ve come to the end of your search.”

“Thanks, but no thanks,” I said to him,

“That’s not the extent of my search.

It’s peace I am after; it’s peace I need

And I have been to many a church.”

He seemed “put off” by my response

So I bid him a very good day

And with renewed resolve I ventured off

And continued on my way.

I happened to pass by a cemetery

And turned in through its gate

And as I walked up to the crowd

I didn’t have long to wait.

“He’s at peace,” yes, I am sure I heard,

“He’s at peace from all earth’s cares.”

It was the dead to whom he referred

And again my heart sank in despair.

“That’s easy, then," I thought to myself.

“All I have to do is die

And peace would be mine forevermore

No longer would I be denied.”

“But that’s not it,” I thought again,

“What about while I’m alive?

The peace I need is not of the dead,

That’s not the peace after which I strive."

It’s then I heard a still small voice

Piercing the tumult in my mind,

“My peace I’ll give you; my peace you can have,

Just seek me and peace you will find.”

I just marvelled at this

That in the midst of this crowd

With all its sorrow and its grief

The answer had come and it wasn’t even loud.

“My peace I give to you

Not as the world gives, give I unto you.

A peace that passes all understanding;

A peace that is lasting and true."

It’s the peace of God for which the world longs

Even though the world knows it not,

It soothes our doubts and calms our fears

And is always with us no matter what.

My search for peace had thus ended

As I took the Saviour on board,

My ship was steadied though the seas were rough

The cost of such peace I could not afford.

But Jesus purchased that peace for me

And not for me alone

But for all who penitently bow at his feet

And make him King on their throne.

Self is that seat you occupy

At the expense of the Master’s peace,

Abdicate your throne He calls today

And your search for real peace will cease.

His peace he’ll give to you

And all your issues he will resolve

And to obtain his lasting peace

There’s no journey involved.

Rather, the journey comes after

In the walk we have with him

And it’s his peace that brings us comfort

Having been rid of our sin.

There came wise men from the east

To find the Prince of Peace

The star stood over where he lay

And only then did their journey cease.

Stewart Russell © June 2017