Madness

There is a bit of madness

In everyone…

And I believe it was there

From the time we were born.

You can blame it on Adam,

If you like,

Perhaps, in a natural sense,

You would be right.

This course of study

Is Madness 101,

I’ll make it a crash course

And then I’ll be gone.

Now, I am no psychiatrist

And I am not a psychic,

But every one of us

Has some peculiar habit.

I can’t give a name

For each of these “madnesses”

But we can agree

That each one exists.

You don’t know who you are

That’s an identity crisis,

Normal at birth and in old age

But now the youth are at risk.

You don’t know where you are

You are lost,

This is the case with many

And it’s a colossal cost.

Everybody else is mad

Except you,

This is particularly dangerous

Since it is an infectious view.

A convenient loss of memory

Is another madness,

It is an “I just can’t remember

Who caused this mess.”

“Everybody else is wrong

And I am right.

They are in the darkness

I alone am in the light.”

This is considered serious

Especially when it is always so,

Always right is madness

And it is time that you know.

Politics is madness

But it is a licensed madness,

It is also compelling

As many of us can attest.

We know he is talking madness

But we give him our vote

And we’re likely to do it again,

Just take note.

Hearing and seeing things

Is another one that exists,

And even University graduates

In this case are at risk.

We all suffer from this madness

And it’s just not cool

To try to convince me

That I am the only fool.

To see is to believe,

We see what we don’t believe

But take it a step further

And receive what we don’t receive.

Confessing to it is madness,

At worst, it’s a lie

But on such a dubious profession

Many Christians rely.

At best they call it faith

But it is really rot,

It is straight-up madness

Which faith is not.

  

Real faith is believing in God

And in His Holy Word,

Belief in any other is madness

And should be considered absurd.

Absolute selfishness

Is absolute madness,

That’s the reason why the world

Is in such a horrid mess.

I didn’t do it

When I know that I did

Is lying madness

That comes high on the grid.

This one is prevalent

And growing day by day

Hence, the numbers in prison,

That one was by the way.

Nail biters and thumb suckers:

That is your sign

And that look in your eyes

Says you have lost your mind.

I am not talking about children

This is about grown-ups,

And you don’t have to go far

Just in the mirror, look!

Another time, perhaps,

I will talk about the church,

There is madness there too

You don’t have to be an expert.

I am tempted as I close

But I will leave it alone,

But concerning the madness levels

We all are in some zone.

Stewart Russell © December 2019

Breaking the Bible

I heard of a man that broke the Bible

To get his daily word,

Whether true or not I do not know

But I find it most absurd.

Breaking the Bible is not like Moses

Who broke the Ten Commandments,

Back then he was angry, shockingly angry

When he saw the people’s bent.

Breaking the Bible is allowing the book

To fall open at whatever page,

By this, this man would get his word

I trust you have passed that stage.

 

Matthew 27:5

One day he did but was quite amazed

At the page the Bible opened,

“And Judas went out and hang himself.”

At this, he was frightfully uncertain.

 

Luke 10:37

“Not that!” he said and tried again

But a second surprise was in store,

“Go thou and do likewise!” The word had said,

So he decided to try once more.

 

John 13:27

“That thou doest, do quickly!”

Was the third instruction sent,

Well you guessed right, this too he refused

And decided on a final attempt.

 

Revelation 1:3

It had worked before on the very first try

Maybe this fourth time would be it,

“The time is at hand,” is the instruction he saw

And with that he decided to quit.

A word to you Bible breakers out there

It is time that you also quit,

For as you can see, as this man found out.

This is a dangerous habit.

It is best, I suggest, to study a word

And keep it within context,

You’ll learn a lot more from this approach

And it is considerably less complex.

Breaking the Bible, like you have seen,

Is never a good thing to do,

Unless of course, you are breaking the word,

Which is a completely different view.

Stewart Russell © October 2019

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