Seasonal

 

 

Seasonal has two meanings

And both are temporal

But given the root of the word

This is only natural.

 

It is not all year round

It is simply seasonal

And when you plan, remember,

This is temporal.

 

Life is a great example,

No one lives forever,

A season may be short or long

But forever, never.

 

There are two meanings

As I first suggested,

Let me see how clear I can be

As I have attested.

 

  

Four seasons in a year:

The most there can be,

However, both you and I know

Not in every country.

 

Barbados, for example,

Has dry and wet

And for as long as I’ve existed,

No winter as yet.

 

All year round it’s hot

And this is not seasonal,

Quite the opposite I’d imagine

Thus, not temporal.

 

Some seasons are fixed

Like the four seasons

But some seasons are manmade

For obvious reasons.

 

 

Crop-over in Barbados

And sugarcane harvest

National Festival of Creative Arts

And Christmas, the best.

 

Seasons can be short

And seasons can be long

But all seasons are temporal

When they come round.

 

A season may be annual

Or every five years

Like elections in Barbados

Or when they appear.

 

But whenever the season

Or, for however long,

To say that a season is temporal

One cannot be wrong.

 

There’s another meaning

Though subtle I believe

But having understood this

I am quite relieved.

 

 

You’ll see in the Bible

The phrase “in due season”,

And I am obliged to focus on it

For a very good reason.

 

Eight times in the Word

You will find this phrase

And it always appears to point

To some future stage.

 

A future stage yet past

And continuing still,

For all those in Christ Jesus

‘Tis God’s perfect will.

 

Our season has come

But we in due season too

Will reap what God promised

To both me and you.

 

Yes, life is a season

And though it goes on

Life will end for us one day

And we too will be gone.

 

Meanwhile we live

With this fact in mind,

Every season, short or long,

Is limited time.

 

 

 

Make the best

Of the time you are given

Knowing your reward is sure

After you have striven.

 

Seasonal though it be

Meaning for a season,

To honour God in all seasons

Is our life’s reason.

 

Galatians 6:9

And let us not be weary

In well doing:

For in due season we shall reap,

If we faint not.

 

Stewart Russell © February 6, 2025

 

Christmas Baby

 

I am a Christmas baby

Regarding my birth

And please do not think

This was my first day on earth.

 

I was not born

On a Christmas day,

Oh no my cherished reader,

Not in that way.

 

Date and day

Is not important here

But the fact that I know

Brings me good cheer.

 

I am born again

Making me God’s child,

I dare to follow Jesus Christ

Meek and mild.

Jesus’ birth

On that first Christmas day

Opened my eyes to the fact

That he is the way.

 

And when I said yes

To God’s will and His way

I became a Christmas baby

From that very day.

 

It has nothing to do

With a festival

And what is more important,

It is not even seasonal.

 

It is all year round

In the country and the town,

I once was lost

But now I am found.

 

Jesus is the reason

For the Christmas season

And when he is left out of it,

It’s worse than treason.

 

 

I am a Christmas baby

But by my spiritual birth

And it’s all because one day

Jesus came to earth.

 

You can argue

All you like

As to the season

Or whether day or night.

 

But this I know

And am convinced the more

That I am a Christmas baby

And that is for sure.

 

Stewart Russell © December 16, 2024