Strange, Isn’t It?

 

 

Isn’t it strange, to say the least,

How we treat the Bible?

And I am not talking about those in church

At, say like a revival.

 

I am talking about philosophers-

Is that what they call themselves?

And people who are intelligent

But somehow left their brains on their shelves.

 

As children they accepted it

But then they got too bright, you see,

And what they could not understand

They called unscholarly.

 

They are voracious readers,

They will read everything in sight

And none of those books they will resent

Even when the information is trite.

 

But ask them about the Bible-

O, you mean that book of fairy tales?

Of myths and legends and old wife’s fables?

Of unscientific thrash and epic fails?

 

And this, of course, is charitable-

You don’t want to hear the coarser descriptions,

You would believe it’s totally corrupted

With nothing for one’s instruction.

 

They will search and search

To find so-called treasure in some book

And having located that piece of trivia

Then spend time getting others to take a look.

 

But the Bible on the other hand,

They would scorn and totally repudiate

And the life-giving treasures that it offers

They would scoff at and berate.

 

I am frequently flabbergasted

At some of their disgusting claims,

Particularly from them that should know better,

But don’t expect me to call any names. 

 

Their names I shall keep to myself

Except when I lift them up in prayer

And trust they will soon come to their senses

And see that the God of the Bible cares.

 

They are trapped in Leviticus and Numbers

Where mixed cloth and mixed plants offend them,

But re the weightier matters of the Holy Word-

They will not spend a minute to defend.

 

 

Isn’t it strange? I ask again,

How the most important book in all the world

Is treated with open contempt

And by many, considered absurd?

 

Stewart Russell © May 2020

 

Plain and Simple

 

 

What’s wrong with plain and simple?

Why is it so difficult to see?

I must confess especially these days

It is still working for me.

 

Then again, you know what they say,

As one gets older that’s all he knows,

With a mind that is becoming unreliable

That is the only way to go.

 

What is the purpose of the complex

That we cannot unravel,

That we spend wasted hours upon

As opposed to the plain and simple?

 

I am enamored with the plain and simple

Though it may appear unscholarly,

It helps to understand the complex

And helps us to see more clearly.

 

That ancient adage comes to my mind:

“We move from the known to the unknown”,

It’s the foundation for building knowledge

Like reaping where we have sown.

 

Some treat to it as though outdated

And demand a more complex approach,

No wonder we are struggling as we are

And becoming the butt of jokes.

 

Biting off more than we can chew

To impress with our scholarship,

We must at least appear to be ahead

That seems to be the current trick.

 

By the way, plain and simple is not costly

Certainly not as costly as the complex

For after trying and trying and trying again

Everybody just ends up vexed.

 

There’s one way of solving the complex

That is via the plain and simple,

For, unless the complex is broken down,

It will still present as unsolvable.

 

A whole is the sum of its parts

From Mathematics we have learned

So, how are we going to grasp that concept

If the plain and simple we spurn?

 

So plain and simple it is

And that is plain and simple for me,

The complex will always boggle my mind

Until plain and simple it comes to be.

 

What’s wrong with plain and simple?

Why is it so difficult to see?

I must confess especially these days

It is still working for me.

 

Stewart Russell © November 26, 2020