Monthly Archives: April 2017

Discernment

Discernment

Cleopas and the other disciple meet the 
risen Lord on the Emmaus Road
[Luke Ch 24 : v 13 -35]

How might we discern the meaning of events?
Sight alone will not provide the answer
The inward eye is needed to reveal the truth
Insight slowly gained to travellers on the Emmaus Road

Intuitive sight awakened when bread was blessed and broken
Realization dawned on their benighted hearts
The gloom and despondency uplifted
Joy returned and faltering faith restored

Just as in times of old we too must seek perception
That moves away the clouds of doubt and disbelief
And life’s experience is seen in clear significance
The purposes of the providence of our God

Grant that we might discern the meaning of events
The little incidental chips that form the overall mosaic
Thus trusting despite our  opaque vision
That God’s overarching purpose will not fail

Ken Fisher

Saturn’s Rings

Saturn’s Rings

Bobbing and diving between those multi-coloured rings
The Cassini probe will be playing hide and seek
Sending back more pictures to make NASA sing
Somehow dispelling strange Saturn’s mystique

This intrepid space adventure, extraordinary mission
Initiated as far back as nineteen, ninety-seven
Was for many long years the controllers’ ambition
Tracked at each stage on its endless progression

But now this robotic spacecraft is near the end of the line
Having scored many targets, new knowledge discovered
Moons observed and recorded as in first design
Its all-seeing instruments new secrets uncovered

But the mission has not yet reached final conclusion
In September its flirting with rings will eventually end
Cassini will take one final plunge to its own self-destruction
But its lifetime achievements will all our losses transcend

Ken Fisher

Quote:

Thursday April 27

8.25am BST: NASA tweeted: “The gap between Saturn and its rings is no longer unexplored space – and we’re going back 21 times.”
The spacecraft has survived the first-ever dive between Saturns rings.
The team is now planning 21 more dives before the space probe does a death plunge into the planet.

Moving House

Moving House

Moving house is quite an undertaking
The hassle might even be rather breathtaking
Ensuring that all your furniture will still be fitting
When you’re involved in what the Scots call a flitting

Then there are many other things to consider
Is my present wardrobe smaller or bigger?
To fit into that bijou space which seems so tiny
Never mind at least the new kitchen’s all clean and shiny

Will there be a fight in the family as to which room you get?
If it’s like most normal households that’s a reasonable bet
Then it’s time to assert your own authority
Making sure your desires are given priority

Then there is the need to decide on the colours you use
For carpets and paintwork, so much to confuse
And if you agree that you need new wallpaper
Get ready with ladders, and paste and the scraper

But no doubt in time it will all sort itself out
Keep a cool head and try not to shout
I hope all that inside work is not too much of a burden
‘Cause when it’s done you need to start on the garden!

Ken Fisher

 

 

Iconic

Iconic

You must have noticed how the word ‘icon’ is now much overplayed
In ordinary conversation we seem to hear it almost every day
Historically the word was used to describe a religious work of art
Nowadays applied to distinguish some object thus setting it apart

In the digital age icons are used to represent a useful ‘application’
Click on the app’s icon and its faculties leap into action
So in this case the icon is a symbol representing a function
The graphic and the routine working in conjunction

Now we seem to have decided that anything exceptional is ‘iconic’
From a well recognized brand name to a modern health tonic
Thus everyday symbols like those for Apple, Coke or Dyson
Stimulate in our minds a sort of anticipatory frisson

All this is good for the salesmen and marketing gurus
But I wonder if the term ‘iconic’ they have patently abused
Indeed we seem to hear that label used so often in these days
It has long ago begun to sound like an inconsequential phrase

So perhaps we should resolve to give the word ‘iconic’ a well earned rest
As a description of anything that we extol as being the very best
And find some other words to refer to artifacts exceptional
And avoid hinting at ideas that are really undeliverable

Ken Fisher

Near Miss!

Near Miss!

 

On most things in life we don’t want to miss out
But here is one goody we can well do without
For yesterday the earth dodged an asteroid
An alien object we were all glad to avoid

Apparently this detritus was as big as Gibraltar
And on its path towards us it never did falter
But fortunately the closest it actually came to our home
Was about one million miles, four times a trip to the moon

Asteroids are a regular threat to our peace of mind
Space scientists keep warning us from time to time
An asteroid may unleash energy like 1,000 atom bombs
Enough, no doubt, to turn mother earth into a tomb

So let’s hope we might manage to remain asteroid free
Or else to another planet we may all have to flee
But even if we can find refuge elsewhere in space
Some other flying object might to that haven chase!

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

Pop-Up Election

Pop-Up Election

Yet another election is about to pop up
On the exercise of democracy we never let up
Apparently about seven ballots in the last three years
We have to be consulted or so it appears

I suppose we really ought not to complain
Although having to choose is sometimes a pain
Mind you it gives work for the pundits and psephologists
Although it might send us all to our psychiatrists

Democracy is certainly a wonderful thing
And many blessings to us it can bring
But is it possible to have too much consultation
Resulting in considerable public frustration?

However, I suppose once again we must do the right thing
And demonstrate, like the customer, the voter is king
As it is the electors who in the end will decide
And with the result we must then abide

Ken Fisher

 

The Foolishness of the Cross

The Foolishness of the Cross

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.”   1 Corinthians 1:18  

Good Friday – a day filled with poignant meaning for believers
Just the start of the Easter holiday weekend for the rest
Who can unravel the mystery of Christ on the Cross?
God’s Son dying to save us from our sins!

Those who surrounded the cross of Calvary
Gazed with a mixture of sadness and wonder
Some hurled insults, others wept in desolation
Today we don’t even swing by to take a peep

But perhaps we may pause just for a moment
Because after Calvary came the empty tomb
The unexplained conquering of death itself
Death still the taboo subject of our modern life

I wonder if this weekend we will question why and what we do?
Indulgence in  Hot Cross buns and Easter eggs might prompt a thought?
What is this all about? Services and ceremonies simply ancient ritual?
What is this foolishness? God’s lightning rod of love

Ken Fisher

 

The Rule of Law

The Rule of Law

Who needs lawyers? You may well ask
To give an answer, quite a task
The law seems a profession quite lucrative
Its rewards are clearly remunerative

But the Rule of Law is much more than lawyers’ pay
About precepts that control our every day
Our freedom, our rights and our obligations
Legal rules forming society’s foundation

If people wish to live together in community
In ordered peace, and with impunity
From the imposition of others’ aggression
Their rights protected from transgression

They therefore need rules imposed by state
Which in disputes will arbitrate
So when crime is committed or contract broken
Justice will not simply be forsaken

Through history, law has come from many sources
The Common Law and Equity, followed by the Statutes
Rules made by Parliament to govern our affairs
Intended to ensure that common life is fair

Judges too have played their part
As legal interpretation turned to art
Laying down new precedents
With which lower courts must be content

Some European laws are imposed on our nation
These are Directives and Regulations
And all this may change in two years time
As Brexit becomes the new paradigm

Then there are local rules and even byelaws
Devolved legislation for simple causes
Thus we are enmeshed on every side
We must conform or woe betides!

The Rule of Law requires the Courts
Wherein the lawyers do besport
Judges and juries all required
That true justice ne’er be denied

And then we have our worthy police
Maintaining order, even peace
The Rule of Law they will enforce
That’s what their duties will endorse

Thus a whole apparatus is put in place
That the Rule of Law might be manifest
But above all the population must agree
That justice is what they want to see

Equality under the law is fundamental
Exceptions would be detrimental
To its strictures we must all comply
Even sometimes with a sigh

International law seeks to see fair play
Holding nations in its sway
Maintaining law where’er it can
Seeking justice for every land

In the end we have to have the Rule of Law
Or nature prevails, raw in tooth and claw
And to obey the law is surely wise
To sustain a world more civilised

Ken Fisher

Spring in The Trossachs

Spring in The Trossachs

Nature’s beauty revealed in all its glory, sensation uninhibited
Delights for the eye and ear and nose, even touching the heart
A whole spectrum of colour, bird-song of every pitch and rhythm
Sweeping panoramas to trigger our emotional response

This tract of Scottish land might be mistaken for Swiss grandeur
Its steep rising hillsides scale the heights above the lochs
Lomond, Katrine, Archray, Ard, and Venachar
And even our home grown lake, Menteith

Here forest tracks and lochside paths meander
Revealing at each turn of the way some secret of the wild
At springtime new life emerges from the gloom of winter
And everywhere the stirrings of rebirth

Ben A’an and Venue rub shoulders with Ben Lomond
To dominate the skyline o’er the glens
Romantic tales surround Rob Roy the outlaw
John Ruskin and Millais captivated by this terrain

The geography and geology yet another source of fascination
And history has added its own insights to the tale
Mary Queen of Scots, Queen Victoria and Sir Walter Scot
All play their part in the allure which is the Trossachs

Ken Fisher

BOGOF [Buy One Get One Free]

BOGOF

[Buy One Get One Free]

 

 

You are no doubt familiar with the technique
A marketing device, by no means unique
Whereby you are tempted to buy more than one
Because to get two they don’t increase the sum

Contrary to what you and I might well think
This has not been contrived to simply hoodwink
For centuries these offers were seen to be good
Apparently first used by Josiah Wedgewood

BOGOF is a method of marketing things
Extolling the benefits claimed goods will bring
Services too are sometimes offered in doubles
At no extra cost nor any more trouble

Economists claim that BOGOF increases sales
And the costing structure takes account of details
So although two items are given in exchange
Any loss of margin the turnover regains

So that is why BOGOF items appear regularly
And with sellers and buyers it has popularity
This clever marketing trick can simply combine
Your satisfaction with their bottom line

Ken Fisher

 

 

What is Art For?

What is Art For?

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Leonardo Da Vinci – Mona Lisa

More people than ever are discovering art
Hoping that somehow it might speak to their heart
They flock to the galleries and exhibitions
Showing concern for these human creations

I suppose art echoes the world that we see
Landscape painting reflects sward, field and tree
Wide vistas captured in one broad frame
Garden, loch, hill and valley laid plain

In portraits persons are the artist’s subject
Perhaps embellished for greater effect
The visage sometimes quite benign
Yet in others so severe and stern

No doubt some paintings are commissioned
By those wishing to project a vision
Of war or conquest, power and might
Or seeking compassion for their plight

Many paintings tell their story
Of ignominy or of glory
Battle scenes of blood and thunder
Ruthless slaughter shameful plunder

Of religion, art has been handmaiden
Faith thus promoted and awakened
To thousands not yet literate
Images, belief might inculcate

Painters help to promote a message
Of politics they can be expressive
Massacres, riots and protest marches
The downtrodden emerging from the darkness

The style which the artists have adopted
The means by which subjects are recorded
Evolved o’er many generations
Each era found its own expression

Colour and symbol played their part
Rendering meaning to the art
And by these signs hidden or overt
We comprehend a work of art

In successive generations
Art movements brought forth new creations
Impressionism, Expressionism, and Modernism
And in their day, Art Deco, Gothic and even Anti-realism

But does any of this answer the question posed
What is Art For? The motion I propose
Perhaps that phrase Art for Art’s Sake
The justification one might make

Art has survived for centuries untold
Tenaciously it still takes hold
Of hearts and minds and imagination
Existing for mankind’s salvation?

Ken Fisher

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Pablo Picasso – Guernica                                                        Gustav Klimt – The Kiss