Vicissitudes of Life

 

That which is done

Cannot be undone

But that which is undone

Can be done.

 

Some cards we choose

Some cards life gives

But whether chosen or given

Life’s purpose is to live.

 

We can plan our day

As we so often do

But the “unplanned for” occurs

Before it is through.

 

While time is constant

Not so the vagaries of life,

Events occur when least expected

And therein is the strife.

 

The illness of a friend

The death of a loved one,

An opportunity long hoped for

Then suddenly gone.

 

 

An upsetting diagnosis,

A prognosis not promising

And someone usually dependable

All of a sudden missing.

 

An examination failed,

A job interview flunked

And that “it will get better” maxim

Certainly debunked.

 

The only luck is bad luck

When nothing is going right,

And when such is the reality

Day is the same as night.

 

Promise after promise

Invariably leading to naught,

Afraid to even ask anymore

Feeling quite distraught.

 

No lack of counsel

Though none of it is working

And even when there seems a lull

Something bad is lurking.

 

The vicissitudes of life,

Myriad fluctuations

When even the best intentions

End in total frustration.

 

Why me, the plaintive cry

And why not some other one

Who can cope with all of this

And seamlessly move on?

 

In the school of hard-knocks

The school we call life,

We sometimes feel it’s just us

But all are prone to strife.

 

Life is what it is

Though different for everyone,

Let’s help another less fortunate

For someday we’ll be gone.

 

Stewart Russell © June 1, 2024

 

Change Perspective

 

 

The thought has occurred to me

That nothing ever changes,

That perhaps it is one’s perspective

That someone rearranges?

 

Like a fish attracted to the bait

I have begun to nibble,

Please don’t be too quick to dismiss it

As unadulterated drivel.

 

Look at the vicissitudes of life:

Do they ever change?

Or might it not be in actual fact

Your thinking was rearranged?

 

Take the loss of a loved one

Or a terminal illness,

Processing alters the perspective

And reduces the stress.

 

“It could have been worse”

How often have you heard this?

Again, the perspective changes

As the consolations you list.

 

 

In life, it’s about perspective:

Having a different vantage point,

We reflect on an event differently

But it’s the same account.

 

We pray for things to change

But quite, often they do not,

We may work around them or accept

That they just may be our lot.

 

I have also recognized

That I bring some things on myself

And, accepting this perspective,

Relieves me of my stress.

 

Having come to this conclusion

I dare to alter my course

And top it off with the perspective,

“It could have been worse.”

 

For as long as we are alive

Diverse challenges will come,

We can adopt a positive perspective

Or attempt to from them run.

 

The latter will invariably fail

We cannot outrun life,

It would be better to adopt the former

As best to deal with strife.

 

Christians are quick to pray

When difficulty comes their way

As though God is unaware

Of what they face each day.

 

According to God’s divine power,

He has given to us all things

That pertain to life and godliness

What more do we need?

 

 

Therein lies the perspective:

The vision that God gives us

To look difficulties clearly in the face

Minus the unnecessary fuss.

 

We daily pray for guidance

God has given it,

We pray for help in time of need

God has promised it,

We pray for comfort in our sorrow

God has supplied it,

We pray for strength in weakness

God has granted it,

We pray for peace midst turmoil

God is our peace.

 

He supplies our every need

And works things out for our good,

And yet we press panic buttons

Like a lost child would.

 

We become unsettled and ruffled

And we scream and shout at God

As though He is not near

And may have travel abroad.

 

Like many who make promises

And after cannot be found

Making them that they promised

Look like a circus clown.

 

 

God is not like men who lie

But He is the faithful promise keeper,

Who backs Himself by Himself

And always He delivers.

 

Hopefully, you can see

On what you need to focus,

Let God inform your perspective

And eliminate the fuss.

 

Stewart Russell © December 13, 2021

 

Our Mother

In the midst of pain and discomfort

God shows Himself to be real

A tower of strength to the feeble

As in the case of our mother who is frail

She is even more dependent on Him

As there’s not much we can do for her

“Jesus suffered much for us,” she says

And with her we must concur

On one occasion while the pain persisted

I heard her in essence say

Jesus’ pain was far more

Compared to what she suffers each day

It’s sometimes difficult to comprehend

While watching her in her wheel chair

This woman that gave birth to seven children

Now almost totally dependent for her care

Such are the vicissitudes of life, I guess

That will attend us should we live as long

As she has for more than ninety years

Though now she is not nearly as strong

So many of you have enquired after her

And your prayers have been dear to us

But the greatest consolation we have of all

Is her strong faith in her Saviour, Jesus

Thus in her weakness she is made strong

And when no one is around he’s there

And during the still watches of the night

Is when he still demonstrates he cares

For sure on him she continually calls

And there’s not an occasion he does not reply

No busy tone or temporary disconnection

His assurance is always to supply

This is not to make light of your calls

Nor indeed your kind and loving expressions

So please do continue to pour them on

Seeing you are the means of God’s ministrations

  

You are His love, His hands His help

And we are the beneficiaries at this time

Our mother is your mother; I hope you know

Since Eve was the mother of all human kind

Thanks to all for your prayers and thoughts

And assuring us we’re not in this alone

And if you did not call do not be distraught

Ours is a greater connection than a phone

For just the thought you’ve spared at this time

To even think about Mum Russell

Means more to us than you’ll ever know

And such helps us through our time of trial.

Stewart Russell © December 2017

There’s A Reason

 

There’s a reason for everything

Even when it’s unknown to you

And a purpose for all that happens

Even if you don’t know of that too.

A picture paints a thousand words

Is a saying that that we know very well

But if those pixels were separate

How could you that picture tell?

Events that happen to you and to me

Are the pixels in the picture of life

So that often we cannot understand

Those events that cause us strife.

We often believe we understand

Those experiences that fit our plan,

These are occurrences that bring us favour

And are prescribed by the heart of man.

“Life is lived forward and understood

Backwards,” somebody once said

But by the time that we understand

That event is long passed and dead.

 

You see understanding only comes

When events are strung together

That paint a picture we afterwards see

To partially assess some matter.

Remember, we don’t repeat history

Though intelligent minds say we do,

It’s life’s mistakes we rehearse again

As in a movie it’s Act-one Scene-two.

Life is not a canvas on which we paint,

It’s more like the brush we use

And all the strokes we daily make

Are to paint the picture we choose.

We see the bigger picture of life

By way of a single myopic lens

Believing that what happens in that regard

Should mostly to our benefit portend.

  

And when prognoses prove incorrect

And the reason to us is unknown

We chastise the Creator of all of life

For altering our picture’s colour tone.

 

We forget that our individual affairs

Are selfish agendas in our life’s scheme

And the God of all creation overseas

All that happens on the earthly scene.

Absolutely nothing is hid from Him

Not one iota and not one jot,

His picture has been painted already

Time is revealing each pixel and each dot.

So much of the puzzle we can’t explain

As we appraise its panoramic view

But while only now unfolding to us

It is what its painter already knew.

The big questions of life He knows

Our origin, our purpose, our destiny,

The hairs on our heads he numbered

And established them from eternity.

So there’s a reason for everything

Even when that purpose is unknown to us,

The Only One knows such a reason

God the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus.

 

You may marvel that I said the Only One

And then proceeded to number three,

That’s one of the questions I can’t explain

But I accept its authenticity.

For the Bible shows clearly this is so

When stating the attributes of these Three

And the best we can in our limited language

Is to express God as a Tri-unity.

How can someone be three and yet one?

That question is for you, not me

For once God’s Word conveys that point

I merely declare it’s the reality.

For while I will attempt to understand

I know I won’t always succeed

Especially regarding what God reserves

And in my own understanding impedes.

These secret things belong to God

And He knows why there are not revealed

But those things He has revealed to us

Make Him still worthy of our appeal.

In Him we live, move and have our being

That’s according to Acts 17 and verse 28

And the choices we make in the here and now

Will determine our eventual and eternal state.

 

To everything there is a season

And a time to every purpose under heaven,

In six days God created heaven and earth

And rested on day number seven.

A fitting demonstration of His omnipotence

And omniscience throughout the ages,

There is a reason for all that He has done

And all that pertains to life’s stages.

Our response to the vicissitudes of life

And the complex issues that frequently arise

Is to trust the One who has all the answers

And what He abhors we should also despise.

Stewart Russell © 2017