All Earth’s Joys

 

 

What is the greatest joy

You have experienced on earth?

Whatever that was

Must have brought great mirth.

 

Laughter and excitement

What lasting treasures!

And the unforgettable memories

That brought us pleasure.

 

But all of earth’s joys

Eventually come to an end

And that for all of us

Could be around the next bend.

 

Like our life, they are short lived

As is the withering grass

And regardless of status or position

We are all in that class.

 

 

All of earth’s joys

Are lined with sorrow

And for every event we enjoy

There is a pending horror.

 

So, what is your greatest joy?

Can you tell it to me?

For whatever it is I can tell you this

Its sorrow lining you will see.

 

Is it a happy marriage?

It will be marred by death,

Did you win the lottery?

Well, you will leave that wealth.

 

Of course, we do understand

It could be the other way around,

The joys set us up

But the sorrow brings us down.

 

 

Death is the lining of sorrow

That shadows life

In the same way that earthly peace

Is shattered by strife.

 

So whatever earthly joy we seek

After that joy comes the bleak,

Just like the summer and the winter

These changes come even as we speak.

 

It is not so in heaven, though

Whenever that time shall be,

Then will be an eternity of untinged joy

When our Saviour, Jesus we see.

 

Stewart Russell © January 31, 2021

 

Sovereign

 

 

 

We know of this term

But there seems so much to learn

That our hearts within burn

When its principles are spurned.

 

“Of political bodies

Not controlled by outside forces”

Just one of the meanings

Taken from one of my sources.

 

“Greatest in status

Authority or power”

Is another definition I found

Taking it even higher.

 

“A nation’s ruler or head of state

Usually by hereditary right:

A crowned head or monarch”

With considerable might.

 

Reserved also for countries

Independent and or Republic

But in some cases

Such sovereignty does not fit.

 

Lastly and most importantly

The Sovereign, Omnipotent God:

The I AM That I AM

The One that is All in All.

 

Identified are different levels

Of sovereignty

But of infinite greatness

Is the Lord God Almighty!

 

 

All power is His

To raise up and pull down

And there is none greater than He

That can be found.

 

He is the Sovereign God

An there is none other besides

And in the heaven of heavens

Is where He resides.

 

Sovereign Leaders rule

But the Almighty God overrules,

He is Sovereign above all

And this He daily proves.

 

None can overrule His will

Even though they may try,

The haughty and high He humbles

And the humble He makes high.

 

Nothing happens

That He does not see

And whithersoever anyone goes

There He will be.

 

All other sovereignties

Are hopelessly suspect

And however powerful they appear

Their fall we can expect.

 

Sovereignties are only as strong

As their military might

And if one mightier comes along

They lose that right.

 

 

 A current case in point

Is Russia and the Ukraine:

Both of these are sovereign nations

But Ukraine is being claimed.

 

 

Its sovereignty means little

To the Russian might

And at present it seems incapable

Of asserting its sovereign right.

 

Russia’s sovereign head

Is demonstrating to all

That he has the military might

To make this call.

 

It is under the guise

That Ukraine must be De-Nazified

Which I cannot understand

However hard I’ve tried.

  

Therefore, my conclusion is:

God is the only Sovereign,

All else carrying the appellation

Is with a tenuous claim.

 

A very thin line

Based on one’s military might

But it is working for the big ones

Where might is right!

 

Stewart Russell © February 25, 2022