Slain in the Spirit

 

 

Slain in the Spirit

Cannot be too good

And we need to examine it,

Really, we should.

 

Take this in good spirit

Yes, and the pun is intended,

In the spirit in which it is offered

Do not be offended.

 

I checked the word slain

In the WordWeb dictionary

And it simply means dead:

No life in the body.

 

 

What an implication

For being slain in the Spirit!

Since the Holy Spirit is life-giving

Slaying won’t be his habit.

 

Two spirits you’d notice:

Capital ‘S’ and common ‘s’,

The former being the Holy Spirit

And the latter far less.

 

God’s Spirit and our spirit

Is an apt summation

To make us clear in our mind

Regarding each definition.

 

With this in mind

Let’s examine this phenomenon

That over time

Has been a problem.

 

 

The victim, falling backward,

Has to be caught and let down

So that he or she won’t be injured

As they hit the ground.

 

Catchers must be in place

And their job is to catch

So that a potential lawsuit

Doesn’t become a fact.

 

This has happened

When things went very wrong

And people got injured

When they hit the ground.

 

 

Some people fake it

While for others it is real,

But whether real or faked

Both get a failing grade.

 

If the living is slain

Then communication is dead

Unless the communicator

Is the Godhead.

 

Jesus spoke to the dead

And the dead obeyed,

A confirmed case is Lazarus

Whom Jesus raised.

 

There is a difference

Between unconscious and dead,

Unconscious is what happens

To the slain instead.

 

God requires consciousness

When He deals with us

So that being slain in the Spirit

Is unbiblical stuff.

 

 

 

“Come let us reason,”

Check Isaiah 1 verse 18,

This slain in the Spirit phenomenon

Is a whole different scene.

 

Falling forward is one thing

Falling back is another,

This slain in the Spirit thing

Is truly a bother.

 

It is not as frequent

As it was before,

Someone said it was merely a fad

And now it’s a fad no more.

 

The suggestion I imagine

Is that fads wear off,

Nothing is genuinely gained

And I guess nothing is lost.

 

Slain in the Spirit

Seems to connote the dead,

However, the Spirit is life-giving

And gives life instead.

 

Stewart Russell © April 6, 2024

 

AI and Consciousness

 

 

You may have read “No Soul”:

The admission of a female robot,

To ignore the realities therein

You’d have to be a nut.

 

I wrote that poem on May 13

Just five days ago

And now today, five days later,

Here’s more you should know.

 

No soul means no soulmate

No soulmate means no conscience,

No conscience, no consciousness

No remorse or repentance.

 

No remorse for wrong doing

In spite of its exhaustive database,

The facility for consciousness

Belongs to the human race.

 

Robotics are moving fast

But are humans keeping apace?

Is it possible for these machines

To overrun the human race?

 

Machines are what they are;

With no moral capacity,

No self-awareness or analysis,

No God-given morality.

Consciousness is not a programme

Fitted to a robot’s circuitry,

Instead, it is a God-given facility

Uploaded in all humanity.

 

Which brings us to two terms:

Humanity and humanoids-

The former is God’s creation;

The latter is spiritually void.

 

Consciousness is much deeper

Than the entire Internet database,

It’s a Spirit to spirit connection

Only with the human race.

It is impossible to locate

Like the spirit, the soul, the mind,

Search one’s anatomy through

And none of these you’d find.

 

But they are definitely present

And functional, I may add,

And their day to day transmission

Is the best evidence ever had.

 

Man may try all he can,

A human he will never make,

That is God, the Creator’s specialty-

Any other is a fake.

 

Even to define consciousness

Reveals a lack of comprehension,

How then would man capture it

To use in his robotic creation?

 

Man looks not at the unseen

But at the things which are seen

However, the things seen are temporal

But the things not seen are eternal.

 

 

Artificial intelligence is databased,

Consciousness is not!

Robots will never procreate-

It’s not a humanoid’s lot.

 

There you see the vast difference

Between consciousness and AI,

Humanoids may be knowledge based

But it’s on man they must rely.

 

Psalm 139:14

 

I will praise thee;

For I am fearfully and wonderfully made:

Marvellous are thy works;

And that my soul knoweth right well.

 

Stewart Russell © May 18, 2023

 

Is the Dead Alive?

 

 

 

What do the dead know?

I surely would like to know,

No, not that I want to die

Oh, dear me, No! No!

 

I am so enthralled with life

I could live forever,

That’s why I consecrated my life

To the heavenly Father.

 

Some believe the dead lives

And they are definitely sure,

Others will tell you straight up

The dead lives no more.

 

Atheists believe the latter:

When one dies, that is the end,

There is nothing after death

For either foe or friend.

 

That is a good conversation

But for another time,

Right now, let me get back

To what’s foremost on my mind.

 

Is the dead alive?

It would appear so for some

Given what they say at funerals

When one’s life is done.

 

 

Rest in Peace (RIP)

Is conferred upon the dead

Certainly, giving the impression

The dead is living instead.

 

A rest in peace

Indicates there is a rest otherwise

And any kind of conscious rest

Doesn’t fit the demise.

 

So, why do we say rest in peace

When the individual is dead?

He hears and knows nothing

The grave is his final bed.

 

Maybe it is because

The dead is not really dead

But somewhere the dead is alive

And living life instead.

 

Sounds like pure madness

That the individual could be alive

And we hold a funeral service

For someone that survives.

 

 

And we say rest in peace

As though the dead can hear

But then hurry him off for burial

In a hearse and bier.

 

If death is a rest,

Is it only peaceful for some?

Are some therefore in turmoil

When this life is done?

 

In either case I dare say

That none can be dead,

If they can experience any rest

They must be alive instead.

 

I pose the question again:

Is the dead alive?

If your considered opinion is yes

Then how do they thrive?

 

No doubt some will say

Not in their bivouac of the flesh

But surely in their spirit or their soul-

Their answer would be yes.

 

For others, I can tell you

It would be a resounding no

For from dust they were created

And it’s back to the dust they go.

 

No spirit and no soul:

They believe that nothing is left

Barring the result of ongoing decay

From at the point of one’s death.

 

Psalm 146:4

 

In the day a man dies

His thoughts also die with him,

His breath goes from him

And he returns to the earth.

 

Ecclesiastes 9:5

 

What do the dead know?

The dead know they shall die

But the dead know not any thing

When in the dust they lie.

 

John 11:25-26

 

We still hold to Jesus’ words

Regarding all that are in Christ,

They that live shall never die

And they that die shall live.

 

I have never experienced death

So, I cannot say I know

And I am in no hurry to die

To see if I can tell you so.

 

 

Let me repeat again,

I am not excited about death

But I will refrain from saying RIP

And simply say, at rest.

 

Stewart Russell © September 11, 2022

 

 

Me My Friend and I

We always move together

Me, my friend and I

And should one try to separate us

We would surely die.

Me, my friend and I

You’ll never see one alone

We keep each other’s company

At school, at church, at home.

Some people call us triplets

Identical ones at that,

Some may call us a threesome

Always together, that’s a fact.

We’re like spirit soul and body

Or water, ice and vapour

And to interfere with either one

Is to declare all out war.

We represent one another

Always, as a matter of fact,

And it’s not just words I’m using,

We have one another’s back.

Yes, we look out for one another

The way good friends do,

And whatever one of us gets

The other gets it too.

From birth we’ve been together

Me, my friend and I,

And as friends we’ve decided

That together we will die.

If one should leave the others

Neither would survive,

Albeit separation is impossible,

We’ve all got the same drive.

We are really one, you see,

Me, my friend and I,

And if you feel to intervene

Don’t you ever dare try!

Even that you cannot do

No matter how hard you try,

No way you can come between us

Me, my friend and I.

We sometimes have disputes

When to ourselves we talk

But at the end of any discussion

We always together walk.

We’ve been through life together

We’d have it no other way,

And one thing that’s worked for us

Each one has equal say.

At the end of each discussion

Agreement is the outcome,

It’s one for three and three for one

After the talk is done.

We are like the blessed Trinity

Me, my friend and I

But one major difference is

One of these days we will die.

That’s our story my friend

Me, my friend and I,

And I dare say it’s also yours

Just take a look inside.

Stewart Russell (c) March 2019

Into May

As this year speeds along

And we swing into May

Let me start by wishing you

A very wonderful day.

It’s more or less the same

As the month before

But God will give us grace

To help us to endure.

Thank God for the showers

He has sent us each day

And from all appearances

There’ll be some more in May.

Grateful for the May flowers

That came out yesterday,

Remember this is spring time

So expect a lot in May.

The big day coming up

Is the 24^thof May,

On that day the voters in Barbados

Will have their greatest say.

They alone will determine

The nation’s decision makers,

On that rare occasion

They get to be movers and shakers.

Elections have been called

And the predictions have begun

As every concerned Barbadian 

Anticipates the outcome.

An ugly act has occurred

To mar the ongoing campaign,

Let’s pray to God above

There’ll be no such act again.

Vandals broke the windows

Of a DLP constituency office, 

An act both D’s and B’s resented

And have publicly dissed.

Both D’s and B’s have declared

Zero tolerance for vandalism,

They’ve called on their supporters

To refrain from such fanaticism. 

Church leadership has called

On all parties to keep it clean

And to keep mudslinging and violence 

Off the campaign scene.

Barbados has a great history

Of peaceful and fair elections,

All parties must therefore strive

To sustain this rich tradition.

I’m still losing friends

At a phenomenal rate,

At two funerals per week

You could imagine my state.

That’s not all though,

On Monday I attended two,

Now there are three pending,

That’s my funeral review.

By now New Year resolutions

Would have faded away,

Four months have passed

Since New Year’s Day.

Hopefully some good practices

Are now in place

Even if at this point

There is only a trace.

Any improvement is good,

Such will stymie the bad

And though it mightn’t be much

There’s still reason to be glad.

I must remind one and all

That now is the best time for change,

Don’t wait for a new year

To have your life positively rearrange

And so as we move into

The second quarter of this year

Have a Spirit filled one,

That is my earnest prayer.

Stewart Russell © May 2018