Who’s Right?

 

Your right and my right

Cannot be right at any time,

Neither of the two is right

Neither yours or mine.

 

I know you are puzzled

By what I propose

But stop a minute, please,

And let you and me diagnose.

 

Notice what I said:

I said your right and mine

Not rights, please note,

At least, not at this time.

 

I make a proposition

And you oppose

And both argue our right

As though he alone knows.

 

Possession becomes the focus

As though we own the right,

“I am right and you are wrong,”

It becomes a verbal fight.

 

 

No one has the right

To own the right,

It’s a benchmark outside of us

To point us to the right.

 

So that when I become obsessed

As though it is my right,

It is at that time

I lose sight of the true light.

 

Often, we approach someone

That we deem should know,

“Would you please stop a while

And your view to us show?”

 

Enter right number three,

It’s more complex than before

And the asking goes on and on

Until someone closes the door.

 

One convinced against his opinion

Holds the same opinion still

So that when think you’ve won

It’s a misleading thrill.

 

No one owns the right

The right he cannot create

Even though in appearance

This is happening here of late.

 

I guess it’s really because

We confuse it with our rights

And so, we feel we have the right

To determine what is right.

 

There is a right and left,

There is a right and wrong,

The second is my focus,

Please don’t get me wrong.

 

 

The Bible is the benchmark

And who abides within is right,

It is God’s Holy Word

And the only true light.

 

All else is darkness

Regardless of whosoever's right,

If it has no base within the Word

Then that one is without sight.

 

The next time you argue

Remember, it is not your right,

Not your right or my right

But what God says is right.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2020

 

Drawing The Line

 

I remember an early Art lesson

It was about drawing lines,

They had to be straight and accurate

No ruler was used at that time.

The line was to be drawn at once

No ruler, yet by the rule,

And of course, back in those days

Teachers were not playing school.

Standards were strictly kept

Not much room for meandering,

The rule-book was the line of demarcation

With scarcely an excuse for overstepping. 

  

The lines were not blurred like today

They were kept with a steady hand,

However, somewhere along the way

We have misplaced that plan.

Instead, little today is absolute

There’s no absolute right or wrong,

I mean even at the highest level...

No disrespect to the Crown.

Even there the lines have been redrawn

Time and time again

Via legal calisthenics and manipulation,

From the reasonable to the insane.

Lines once steady and sharp

Are now painfully blurred,

How we could vacillate so unashamedly

Is nothing short of the absurd!

I fear for our very young children,

What will become of them?

What kind of world will they exist in

Given the extent of our problem?

What will be their right and wrong?

Will they even have a conscience?

Will they accept the biblical standards

Or walk the road of least resistance?

Will we continue to blur the lines

Even in the church

And misguide them along a perilous path

Blindfolded and precariously perched?

Or will we show them the line again

As drawn in God’s Holy Word

And describe to them the benefits therein

And ensure that they have heard...

By drawing that line for ourselves

And setting an example thereby

So that our children and children’s children

Would on that same line rely?

No overstepping of the line,

No navigating too near the edge

Less a slip or accidental misjudgment

Snatches them from the ledge.

The contrary waves are raging

They have encroached beyond the shore,

Now the tsunami is threatening

The lines are there no more.

Stewart Russell © November 2019