An Odd Number Indeed

Today is the day

I dare not turn around my age,

Some people do 

When they reach another stage.

It makes them younger

Or so they believe,

So sixty-five would be fifty-six

In their attempt to deceive.

The age above might work 

As opposed to sixty-one and sixteen,

Such would be too far fetch

Since they are way past their teens.

To do that would make me older

By exactly nine years

Though some would dare to say,

That is as old as I appear.

My brother fits nicely here

Being nine years older than me,

If I turn around my age

I would be as old as he.

So I am satisfied with my age

I don’t have to turn it around

And to tell you the truth,

My mental faculties are sound.

You might not believe that

But it is the precise truth

And this very poem I am writing

Bears evidentiary proof.

So stop the silly giggling,

It is not befitting you

Cause you know just like I do

That what I am saying is true.

Sixty-seven today

Nowhere near seventy-six

So I dare not turn around my age,

That would put me in a fix.

I give God praise and thanks

For these sixty-seven short years,

Short years instead of long

Since time just disappears. 

  

And staying with the odd number

Sixty-seven, I mean,

I’ll make this poem eleven verses

And keep the odd number theme.

Stewart Russell © February 2020

Tradition versus Truth

Tradition is all right

If we do not lose sight

Of the truth’s light

That is always pointing right.

Both day and night

It is ever bright

But with tradition’s might

Some will lose the fight.

Tradition battles for priority

With its major weapon, obscurity

Clouding man’s visibility

To the truth’s invincibility. 

The truth of God

Opposed by the traditions men,

The latter taking prominence

And creating many a problem.

Swallowed up by cultures

Is our modern day Church

And the teachings of the Apostles

By today’s experts.

Where the Bible now is

Is where God was,

Fresh revelation we need

Is the ongoing buzz.

We have the God searchers

Based on a man’s book,

Hence, a shift from the Bible

To a different outlook.

Traditions of old

Being replaced by the new,

All of them man-made,

Everyone is a man’s view.

And the Word is basically used

As a point of support

Of men’s traditions

To which many resort.

 

Loyalties are divided

Between God and a founder

And between the two,

Denominations flounder.

Receiving little from God,

From their founder nothing

And like a hungry man,

Stomach merely rumbling.

Adding to God’s Word

Subtracting from Christ’s essence,

 Multiplying salvation’s requirements

Dividing loyalty, a deadly expense.

Truth versus Tradition

Now a colossal battle,

In the church and without

Affecting all people.

Men walking tall like trees

As seen by the visibly impaired,

The blind leading the blind

And both going nowhere.

An epic battle indeed

Church leaders overcome by greed,

The gullible following their lead

And paying the truth little heed.

It is time to step back

Time to take a fresh look:

A look at the Bible, I mean,

God’s Holy Book.

Traditions will disappear

And so will their founders

But the truth of God

Will stand forever.

Tradition Versus Truth:

Truth the eventual winner!

Focus not on a denomination’s founder,

You may end up a loser.

Stewart Russell © December 2019

We Gatherin’

 

It is interesting in 2020

That we have planned “a gathering”

For bajans far and near

To join in celebrating.

A joyous home coming time

A time of great reflection,

A time of reminding one and all

Of the need for introspection.

Having commenced in January

In the parish of St Lucy

And continuing throughout the year

Highlighting each parochial legacy.

“We Gatherin’” is upon us

With St Lucy now complete,

And so it is on to St Peter

Where we have been promised a treat.

No doubt there will be comparisons

As each parish grabs its chance

To advertise its resources

And our fair nation enhance.

For Barbados is a blessed country

And the right thinking will agree

We have punched above our weight

So give praise to the Almighty.

From St Lucy in the north

To St Philip in the south,

Nothing demeaning about our Nation

Should ever exit our mouth.

So at this time of gathering

We must surely lift the standard,

Each and every single parish

Rallying around its banner.

Notice we started with FAITH

In the parish of St Lucy,

A reminder that our achievements

Are the blessings of the Almighty.

For there is nothing we can do

Without His enabling strength

And in our honesty should confess

He is our shield and defense.

They say you will find a Barbadian

In every part of the world,

“We Gatherin’” is calling everyone,

I hope by now they have heard.

It would be good if we could have

All the countries represented

Where Barbadians make their living

And their prospects are cemented.

For the world is a global village

Of which Barbados is a part

And wherever a Barbadian is

Barbados should be in his heart.

As we celebrate “We Gatherin’”

During this God-given year

May we also take time to think

Of the gathering over there.

I speak of that great gathering

Of believers dead and alive,

It’s time that Barbadians everywhere

Begin to catch that vibe.

In this “We Gathering’” year

Let us be prepared for home going

For we know not about tomorrow

Or what today will bring.

How remarkable it would be

If in this “We Gatherin’” year

Our nation recommit to Almighty God

And entrust its future to His care.

Let’s implement the national anthem

Especially the second stanza

So that it becomes our trademark

Rather than mere propaganda.

We are reeling under the impact

From the spoilage of our country

By persons of disrepute

And entirely bent on villainy.

 

May 2020 be remembered

Not only for the year “We Gatherin’”

But the year of new beginnings

For our beloved country Bim.

Stewart Russell © February 2020

No Lot o’ Long Talk

 

“Did God really say?”

What an introduction!

And with that, Eve’s brain-gears

Spun into action

God had spoken clearly

Eve had clearly understood

But that wily serpent, the devil,

Got under Eve’s hood.

“Did God really say that?

I wonder why would He,

Considering the fact

That it is He who made the tree?

“Why would He, pray tell me,

In this beautiful garden put a tree

And then instruct you and Adam

To see and don’t see?

It doesn’t make sense to me

And it doesn’t sound like God,

Unless of course...”

More doubt injected the fraud.

“Unless of course... of course

He wants to toy with you.

Why else would he tell you, don’t

And then put the tree in plain view?

I will tell you something

It will do you well to believe.

God is hiding something from you

That He has and you don’t, Eve.

God knows if you eat of that tree

You will become like God.”

You see, Satan had tried it and failed

But after all he is the Fraud.

If only Eve had known

What Satan knew,

She would have obeyed God

But she hadn’t a clue.

Why didn’t God warned her

About this subtle creature?

Surely it would have helped

If she had seen the whole picture.

But God held back information

That was important to Eve

And the devil capitalized on it

And Eve was deceived.

So, the devil outsmarted God

To the detriment of Eve

And then God punished Eve

After she was deceived.

So God must take the blame

For Eve’s mistake

Even though the news Satan brought

Was the kind they call fake.

We made the same blunder

Maybe even today,

God gave us an instruction

And we disobeyed.

Next we blamed God

For the trouble that came

And accused the Holy Spirit

For not playing our game.

Eve was given a clear directive

She should have obeyed

But like us, she spent time with Satan

Day after day.

Which brings me to the point

That I really want to make,

That we throw words at God

But the devil we won’t forsake.

Our conversations with the devil

Originate in our heart

And while we give God lip honor

We never bid Satan depart.

  

The heart is the principal thing

When we talk to God

But more often than not,

That’s how we engage the Fraud.

Eve spent too much time

Talking to him

And with that came

The all embracing sin.

It is not for us to understand why

When God gives a directive

 But obey it to the letter

And let it be instructive.

Satan does what he has to do

Because he has limited time,

And he is not as smart as you think

For his tricks are one of a kind.

It’s the same old trick he put to Eve

It’s getting us to doubt

But we need to put him in his place

By simply saying, “Get out!”

Get out of my conversations!

Get out of my life!

Get of my home

And away with your strife!

Get out of our schools

And out of our churches too!

Jesus is our Saviour

And there’s nothing you can do.

 No lot o’ long talk

Neither from the lips nor the heart,

And when you get tired saying, “Get out!”

Just simply say, “Depart!”

Stewart Russell © October 2019

Our Best Option

Have you ever asked a question

That no one answered?

Did you decide there and then

It’d be better to have it cancelled?

Why, after all if no one can answer

Would it not be better

To forget the question

And just do not bother?

Have you ever answered a question

That no one asked?

Did you decide there and then

That was an easy task?

Questions without answers

And answers without questions,

We have all gone mad

What’s the next option?

It is simple, though, if you see what I mean,

We live in a mad, mad world.

So don’t be surprised by verses one and three

It is likely to get more absurd.

A question could be asked

Or a question could be implied

Such that, in this mad, mad world

You may have to decide,

The eyes may say it

And such may implied your task,

Hence you may very well answer a question

That was never really asked.

 

I have seen parents do it

To their children before they asked

Especially when the answer was a no

To whatever the task.

The child might reply,

 

To which the parent responds

So you have already grasped.”

Like the sign that says, don’t bother to ask

The answer is going to be no,

We will both have a pleasant day

If you don’t bother to stop but go.

More questions than answers

You must have heard the song,

But that was long ago

These days that assertion is wrong.

 

For non-existing problems

And feel quite smug with ourselves

Especially when we solve them.

Like the gender issue for example

Which was not a problem

But we created a bank of genders

Well, that should solve them.

An answer bank has been established

With answers of all kinds,

The questions will come later

 

Meanwhile we have questions

To which we can’t find answers,

I guess in light of this established bank

These questions will be cancelled.

For a bank of future answers

Cannot address the present questions

So I must ask this question again,

What is the next option?

There is a book with all the answers

But very dissimilar to this bank,

Do not think I am being facetious

This is seriously not a prank.

The Bible has all of the answers

Its author anticipated our questions,

He knows the end from the beginning

Herein lies our best option.

  

He offers an open invitation

Bring your questions and come,

There’s not a question He can’t answer

And He answers through His Son.

Jesus is God’s begotten Son

In whom we have access,

And together with the Holy Spirit

This option is the best.

Stewart Russell © October 2019