Sunday, May 31, 2020

Peering Through the Key Hole

Writing is such an adventure at times as fingers try to follow the Whisper within.
I woke with the last two lines in the first stanza in my mouth. 
It repeated itself over and over till I got up and set it free💓

There is no end to Beauty this time of year!
 Nature does its thing in spite of the chaos man creates...



Bless the Lord oh, my soul.
O, Lord my God, Thou are very great.
thou art clothed in honour and majesty!
Psalm 104:1

The Majesty of morning metes the dawn
Mercy extends man’s means to carry on
To fan the flame that keeps faith undeterred
And live a life according to His Word

The Giver of each good and perfect gift
Will not forsake or set the soul adrift
But ever keeps a watchful gaze unfurled
O’er we who bear the trouble of this world

Earth’s beauty is like a hole for a key
Where we peer through to glimpse God’s majesty
Our duty is to obey Him without whys
Even when logic suggests otherwise

He witnesses the sacrifice we make
For no other reason but for His sake
When, as we heed the Voice that He instilled
God sees His righteousness in us fulfilled

Do not despair when evil-doers flaunt
The depth of man’s depravity and Want
But pray for them before it is too late
And the Key fits the hole that opes the Gate

© Janet Martin





Saturday, May 30, 2020

How Can We Show Love...

These are dark days but because He lives we can face tomorrow!

"Because I live, you also will live."
John 14:19

 

Have you found it hard to feel encouraged in these dark days? 

 "it's so hard to know how to show love in a city where everyone is afraid"
said Melissa last night as she struggled with ideas on how to show love
in a world where again this week so much of the news 
is heavy and hard and we want to change the world with love but how?
~ "You must be the change you want to see in the world."~
Mahatma Ghandi 

Melissa shared an encounter with her intent to show love the other day...
she heard a lady in a wheel-chair calling 'will someone please help me cross the street?'
so she thought, 'well, that's pretty obvious! I can help her'
but as she pushed the very heavy wheel chair the woman wailed in pain over every bump,
Melissa got stuck in an LRT track and sheer panic forced the chair free!
When she reached the other side one woman was as distraught as the other
and she said 'all I intended to do was show love'.💝

It's hard not to let anger take root in the unfairness-es of life...
but God IS love. 
He IS good!

Psalm 145:8-9
 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.
 The Lord is good to all;
    he has compassion on all he has made.
 
Let's trade our anger in for humble prayer
for a heart of forgiveness and love!
I turned to Psalm 37 yesterday for comfort and encouragement
It begins like this...
Do not fret because of evildoers,...


We are not equipped to stand up for what we believe
until we get down on our knees! 


How can we show love in a world where fear’s dark fathoms roll
With woe and pain, anxiety, chaos out of control
Mountains can seem so hard and high, but we are called to climb
And suffer the strain of its struggle one step at a time

How can we show love in a world where doubt and mistrust mars
The heart where hope should spring immortal, instead of hate’s scars
How can we hold a hand when Covid keeps touch beyond reach
Or comfort one another in death’s losses, dark and deep

How can we show love in a world of love misunderstood
Because broken humanity has not loved like we should
This place where racial prejudice makes people vile of heart
Makes we who want to show love, wonder how to do our part

How can we show love in a world where opinion takes charge
The Word of God rejected/neglected by the masses, by and large
How can we gain wisdom to know how to love without fail
On an ocean of ships tossed to and fro without a sail

How can we show love and not take offense when ‘they’ oppose
When we are crowned with thorns while scorn tramples love’s perfect rose
When evil seems to triumph and the world screams ‘where is God’
When answers are inept when instead of a kiss, a rod

How can we show love in a world that needs it desperately?
We start by looking through lenses of true humility
We start by seeking God to guide, for we are called to climb
One smile, kind word, one retort withheld, one prayer at a time

One heart that trusts the One who battled in Gethsemane
Surrendering His will to Love’s Supreme Authority
One life committed to the call no matter what the price
Where the greatest Command of all begins with sacrifice

© Janet Martin


Friday, May 29, 2020

The Young and The Old


 Last month I wrote this poem 
Of Chapters Closed as I contemplated the impact of
The Changing of the Guard next door
(aka new owners of the farm next door)...as young farmers kicked up
the dust of planting crops and dreams.


It officially changes hands on June 1st

...now, just to clarify for my own peace of mind;
the farmer that is retiring is by NO means old!!
(he is the in the age-bracket of hubby and I😀)
He is just ready to hand over the reins to younger drivers...
(H-m-m! I wonder which one is the bride-to-be...scouting out their dream-home💓)

The young have the ambition that within the old has waned
The old have gathered wisdom that the young have not yet gained
The young have dreams enough to withstand work, grueling and hard
The old have borne Time’s sleight of hand and changing of the guard

The young are young enough to feel that Time is on their side
The old have been old long enough to know how swift its stride
Then thank God for the young where fire burns within their veins
And thank God for the old, willing to hand over the reins

The old train and equip the young, knowing what Time will do
…how soon the younger will become the older, yes, it’s true
For what once seemed remote and something other people bear
Has run its course across their skin, its fingers through their hair

The young have what it takes to make the old loosen their grip
The old have what it takes to make the young tighten the ship
The young have hopes not hampered by energy's empty jars
The old have sense enough not to throw water at the stars

© Janet Martin


So...
This week-end is bittersweet; though we look forward to meeting our new neighbours,
we sure will miss the old!
 our life-long farmer-neighbours are moving/retiring!
 Couldn't have asked for better neighbours,
always so kind, generous and helpful
and we certainly wish them the best yet to come!



Heart and Goal


A calm hour with God is worth
a whole lifetime with man.
-Robert Murray McCheyne- 

What goal fires our purpose?
Is it temporal or eternal?

 1 Peter 1:24
For, "All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flowers of the field;
 the grass withers and the flowers fall,


So much seeks our full attention
Weak or strong are not immune
To the ethereal dimension
Of the dreamer’s private room
Where no mortal master governs
What no guard can chaperone
In thought’s invisible caverns
Where the heart becomes a throne

…where the one who reigns upon it
Breaks through flesh and blood façade
By the way we weigh life’s moments
Serving either Self or God
By the object of our wonder
By the comforts that console
Where each moment draws asunder
The gap between Heart and Goal

© Janet Martin

Thursday, May 28, 2020

Making The Most of What's Left of May/Life







I dare not waste the haste with which May’s merry moments sparkle through
A freshly-unfurled canopy, an apple-blossom-dappled flue
The color-friendly flower-side that warms the hearth of dreamer’s hearts
Makes us so glad to be alive in the happiness May imparts

The bud that clenched its teeny fist relents and almost overnight
The barren branch is filled with hymns of leafy sigh and shadow-light
I dare not shut my eyes lest the surprises I’ve come to expect
Are scattered at my feet and no amount of grief can resurrect

How swift the gift of seasons strews its wrapping paper vapour to thin air
A rift twixt fingertips and past’s echo-established thoroughfare
The freedoms that we balance where duty’s insistent ties entwine
We ought to savour like those moments just before we rise and shine

I dare not waste the haste that turns May into June, June to July
Until another year adheres to sentimental me-oh-my
Come, let’s do lunch beneath the maple-green umbrella’s umbral arc
For May will soon slip into June like daylight turning into dark


© Janet Martin

 ...and don't sweat the small stuff!