Beyond the Mere Ritual

 

 

Heavenly Father,

I pray today

That my prayer

Would go beyond mere ritual,

And be not the complaints

Or the grocery list

As usual.

 

Help me,

Heavenly Father,

To appreciate you

Simply just for who you are

And to thank you

For supplying my needs

As you always do.

 

And to do so,

Heavenly Father,

Form a heart of gratitude,

Ascribing to You all glory,

And all honour,

And all praise

In the right attitude.

 

Giving thanks,

Heavenly Father,

For those necessities

I often take for granted:

Like the strength I use,

And the air I breathe

Uninhibited.

 

For the so-much

That is going for me,

Heavenly Father,

Rather than the focus I take

On life’s challenges

And making the same

A huge bother.

 

 

Help me today

And always,

Heavenly Father,

To go beyond the mere ritual,

Praying from the heart,

And that without ceasing,

It will be continual.

 

Help me, Heavenly Father,

To conform to the image of Christ

As I grow and glow,

And that the beauty of Jesus

Will be seen in me

As I live out in my life

Here below.

 

I pray, Heavenly Father,

That…

My walk will match my talk,

My life will match my lip,

My prayer would be mindful

And meaningful

And not just a daily habit.

 

Stewart Russell © February 21, 2022

 

Free Speech

 

 

What really is free speech

And should it be limited

And why shouldn’t laws be passed

To render it uninhibited?

 

And would it be free speech

If it is sorely limited

Rather than allow for free venting

And be uninhibited?

 

 

Take our cybercrime bill

Or should I say law

For I become rather confused

And my thinking is flawed.

 

It’s amazing these two:

Law and flawed

And how they are thrown together

When talking Law.

 

Like occurring lately

In the many discussions

Among our top legal luminaries

Re their summations.

 

 

Some: a perfect law

Others: riddled with flaws

To protect the upper echelons

A.k.a. the big boys.

 

What really is free speech

If not to speak freely

About the wrongs and injustices

One experiences daily.

 

Of course, no name calling

In the public domain

For if it be certain political figures

There must be no name.

 

If it be a small fry

Name calling is all right

For such wouldn’t have the resources

To protect his or her rights.

 

 

Free speech is not free

And can be rather costly

Even when the truth has been spoken

Or aired publicly.

 

Regarding free speech,

Who determines the what:

The what that we can make public

And the what we cannot?

 

At the end of the day,

Is free speech really free

Or is it like so-called democracy:

Just illusory?

 

Stewart Russell © August 11, 2024