Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Happy Canada Day

A few links below to previous Canada Day poems!

They reiterate concerns becoming more dire 

and freedom becoming more dear with each year!!

Happy Canada Day!

O, Canada 

Prayer For Canada (or From Shore to Shore)

Somber Celebration-Happy Canada Day

O Canada, glorious and Free (oh, North America)

O True North, How long Will You Be Strong and Free?


Let us examine and probe our ways,
And let us return to the Lord.

Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the Lord,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.



Saturday, September 18, 2021

As We All Are


The ending of the movie Stranger in Town
contains a speech with relevant reminders to all of us
all these decades later...

(click on at 1:50 if you are in a hurry😉)


Politics is a topic that can lead to fiery discussion
and differing opinions!
Pray, more than anything we pray for our leaders
at every level for they are far more than representatives
of a political party.
They are living souls
As we all are!

“There are no ordinary people.
You have never talked with a mere mortal.”
C.S. Lewis

Meanwhile, we all are dearly loved
by the One who made us
'whether little girl with little curl'


or Leader for the better or worse
of the country he/she serves.

Prime-minister/president/political party bashing has never served to build
or heal and though today's voter's options seem sadly lacking
it is not a reflection of one man/one party, but rather of
 the nation's moral compass.
A country is not its prime-minister/president.
It is the people; you, me and every other
extra-ordinary human being we meet on a daily basis!

Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them 
as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

On Monday Canada goes to the polls to vote for Prime-minister
either a new one or more of the same,
but it is a dark time for many voters because
When a nation stops calling on
The One True God
We get what we deserve.

Oh God, help the future of the nations...



...for we are more than flesh and blood,
Than hands and feet
and lovely face
We are the handiwork of God
Therefore no one
is commonplace

All precious in the sight or He
Whether private
or super-star
He created mortality
With tender love
as we all are

Then pray, this common Bond of love
Not hate, advises
And controls
Both citizen and head of state
Are chariots of
deathless souls

Therefore, in spite of all we lack
Not one of us 
are very far
From giving up and giving back
To He who loves
As we all are

Then lest, because of mortal bent
We forget, we should
Think again
Our love for God is evident
by how we love
our fellowman

Janet Martin~ 

For here we have no continuing city, 
but we seek the one to come. Heb.13:14

Thursday, August 5, 2021

A Rural Mural (of Ontario's August Countryside)









Ontario's August countryside is lovely to behold.
Landscapes are laid in checkered counterpanes of green and gold
Ditches and creek beds showcase wild-flowered extravagance
Where summer spills its heart in field and garden opulence 

Ontario's August countryside kindles poetic ink
In waist-deep pools of milkweed plumes, magenta and pale pink
In spools and spools of Queen Ann's Lace unrolled in dainty frills
In purple aster rivers, yellow hyssop, vine tendrils   

Ontario's August countryside serves up a wonder-feast
A buffet table groaning with the aftermath of seeds
Inviting us to partake from earth's smorgasbord unfurled
A healthy, hearty helping of nature's joy to the world

Ontario's August countryside is summer's centerfold
A mile-on-mile wide magazine of beauty to behold
Beneath clouds heaped like cauliflower on platters of blue
Page after page is filled with frames to thrill our points of view 

Ontario's August countryside evokes a worship hymn
Stirred by a breeze, harvest-dust-sweet as wheat is gathered in
As gardens become baskets brimming with treasure of fruit
And gardeners feel like dirt-pirates cum-bearing precious loot 

Ontario's August countryside enchants its passenger
Where soon Time claims its dues and shoos us into September 
So look a little longer where the dust of summer flies
Lest we should take for granted what is right before our eyes

...where pasturelands are dappled with cattle, where willows weep
Where leafy awnings toss shadow-piazzas, dark and deep
Where brooks meander, teasing us to slow our quickened stride
Through rural murals of Ontario's August countryside

© Janet Martin
 



Thursday, July 1, 2021

Oh, True North, How Long Will You Be Strong and Free


I can't help but shed a tear as I listen to our glorious, national anthem...
The Canada this song was written for is still geographically accurate
but the people, oh, it's the people that make a country, 
not the dirt we stand on...

Another great rendition of our national anthem!




I love Canada, and thankfully, we still enjoy many freedoms
however, I cannot glaze with praise that which is not praise-worthy...

Oh, True North strong and free
I mourn for you today
Are stripping ‘free’ away

Our home and native land
Poised on a precipice
Is scorned, ignored, dismissed

Our national anthem
Tweaked to please man, not God
Our House of Commons, prayer-devoid
Our leadership, a fraud

Grand worship-cathedrals
Deserted now for dreams
That disregard man’s Source of Strength
That binds a country’s seams

Oh Canada, you are
Hearts that once glowed with pride
You are the land for which so many
Sons and daughters died

And now some dare to think
(Wise in their own conceit)
That History’s permanent ink
They somehow can delete

...where ignorance is god
And atheism lord
And debt, a noose of corruption
Nobody can afford

Oh, True North Strong and Free
I mourn for you today
Because your/our strength and freedoms
Are being stripped away

© Janet Martin

Truth (and history) are indestructible
no matter what man destroys!
March on, Christian soldier/soul-dier

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves 
and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 
then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin 
and will heal their land.


Psalm 60:2
You have shaken the land and torn it open. 
Heal its fractures, for it is quaking.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Keep old books, find them, protect them
 because the info on the internet is censored and unreliable
at the discretion of darkened understanding!



Above all keep This Book front and foremost!


Our country is in the state we are in because this book of Everlasting Truth
God's Word, is no longer front and foremost in our homes!
Strong faith = strong families 
strong families= strong homes 
strong homes= strong country!

My heart bursts with concern for the country these  precious tots
are growing up in!!!







Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Oh Canada, Glorious and Free (oh North America!!)

 below, yesterday's tot-craft!

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. 
Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.
Psalm 127:1

 Sharing the prayer at the close of Peter Marshall's sermon, The American Dream
(click link for the whole sermon)
Have you read it lately?
 It's truths apply to Canadians just as profoundly!
a few more excerpts (and this was preached in the1930's or 40's!!)





Ah liberty is never free; lest we forget midst common plan
To treasure with humility its prize, to serve our fellowman
And never take our eyes of He who keeps our true North strong and free
Where man’s downfall will ever be contempt for God’s supremacy

...for power-hungry greed destroys and pride always precedes the fall
And ignorance is greatest where God’s Word is treasured least of all
And then the blind, wise in their own eyes think they see and dare to lead
The flock over a precipice then bind their wounds with chains of need

...for freedom cannot long survive where godless logic takes the wheel
Ah, liberty is never freedom to forget its bloody seal
Or founding fathers full of faith; hope’s symbol raised on foreign sod
To proclaim peace and give first place to the authority of God

To pray for peace is ludicrous if we abandon its True Source
Hope without God is foolishness; a ship blown off its charted course
As wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing mingle with the loud, gullible crowd
And gloat at the prattling, pathetic prey of the godless and proud

Oh Canada, glorious and free; but oh, how certain seems thy fall
In vain we’ll stand on guard for thee if we forsake the Lord of all
Oh, Canada, the beautifully blessed because God’s grace is great
Our home and native land, oh Lord, waken before it is too late

Oh, Canada home of fine churches empty, because man neglects
The One who gave purpose to hard-working dreamers and architects
Oh Canada, glorious and free but doom looms large; thy lovely land
Of rocky heights and grassy sweeps slipping into heathen quicksand

Ah, liberty is never free; its privileges lent, not owned
Oh God, its loss is gathering momentum with each ‘prophet stoned
And unless we repent oh Lord, our true North strong and free will fall
Oh Canada, before it is too late, pray for a miracle

© Janet Martin






Monday, July 1, 2019

Somber Celebration...Happy Canada Day!


I have often shared excerpts from Peter Marshall's
 The American Dream(for the whole message click link)
which I read each Canada Day because the message applies to Canadians just as well! 




...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves
 and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 
then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chron.7:14

Land of liberty’s allowance
Brims with bloom and ‘freedom’s vote’
While it wavers in a balance
With a noose around its throat

Land that boasts of milk and honey
Tables heaped with fortune’s fruit
From a tree of borrowed money
With a sickle at its root

Land of ebbing comprehension
Where Endeavor’s Ego flies
Posting plans of intervention
From quick-sands of compromise

Land of bounty, land of beauty
Freedom is bought with a price
Land built on far more than duty
Land that stands on sacrifice

God, who made thy mountain rafter
Carved through rock thy coursing sea
Forgive those who scorn with laughter
Thou who keeps us strong and free

Somber is our celebration
Aware like never before
Of a rift in the foundation
And a wolf outside the door

© Janet Martin

 Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: 
be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Matt.10:16




 Our National Anthem
 written by Calixa Lavallée


"O Canada" (French: Ô Canada) is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Théodore Robitaille for the 1880 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony; Calixa Lavallée composed the music, after which, words were written by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The original lyrics were in French; an English translation was published in 1906. Multiple English versions ensued, with Robert Stanley Weir's version in 1908 gaining the most popularity, eventually serving as the basis for the official lyrics enacted by Parliament.[1] Weir's lyrics have been revised three times, most recently when An Act to amend the National Anthem Act (gender) was enacted in 2018. The French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" had served as a de facto national anthem since 1939, officially becoming the country's national anthem in 1980 when Canada's National Anthem Act received royal assent and became effective on July 1 as part of that year's Dominion Day (now known as Canada Day) celebrations.

O Canada
Lyrics

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

The words of the original poem of 1908 by Stanley Weir are as follows:

O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love thou dost in us command.
We see thee rising fair, dear land,
The True North, strong and free;
And stand on guard, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.

Refrain
O Canada! O Canada!
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.

O Canada! Where pines and maples grow.
Great prairies spread and lordly rivers flow.
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western Sea,
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!

Refrain

O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies
May stalwart sons and gentle maidens rise,
To keep thee steadfast through the years
From East to Western Sea,
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!

Refrain

Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion within thy loving care;
Help us to find, O God, in thee
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day,
We ever stand on guard.

Refrain

Original Poem by Judge, R. Stanley Weir, 1908
Music by: Calixa Lavallée


Monday, July 2, 2018

Momentous Tids and Bits

This neighbour, who plows my garden every fall and does the first till every spring 
laid his wife of 42 years, to rest on Saturday.

"The verse that keeps coming to my heart for him", I remarked to Victoria on our way home from the funeral visitation last week (as we both were struck by his utterly bereaved countenance)
Here is a man who took care of his suffering/bed-ridden wife for many years!
yet even so, death came unexpectedly...

(This was the 2nd Saturday in a row that I attended a funeral at the church of my childhood.
plus a few visitations during the week...
a sign that I'm getting older and nearer to the 'outer ripples' of this generation?:)


....then there was Canada Day...already again!

A year beginning to feel a little like a firework fizzle...flare and fade!
...or like a sun-sparkle on sea and sand; we stare amazed, reach but can never grasp
its shimmer through our fingers!


Ah, ache we cannot quell where well we know what moments mete
The breaking and the binding of its swell like fields of wheat
Where seasons sprout; the clout of teeny tick by tock supreme
Whilst death reminds us to regard moments with high esteem

Ah, beauty meets the eye and poets sigh and farmers grin
For seed begets the fruit where soon the harvest will begin
The quest for satisfaction a thirst nothing can fulfill
Unless we recognize the prize that moments cup and spill

Ah, tender troubadour, you tease us with your give and take
Meandering through gardens weaving echoes in your wake
Where we cannot afford to miss one glorious syllable
Of summer’s silver-speckled sea-song’s ‘so-long canticle’

We grasp and clasp dawn’s fading flow’r; a wonder full of woes
Dismantles moments of an hour like petals from a rose
The sway of night to day murmurs summer’s sweet green to gold
Compelling us to look closer at moments in our hold

Ah, happiness, to find you is no secret if we see
That you are here and now; not an elusive destiny 
The laughter of a child, a garden flower-wild, a brook
A you-and-me that makes the 'we', we dare not overlook

© Janet Martin





One of the little guys I babysit was delighted when I told him he may pick the green grapes to put in his loader because first-year vines need to put all their energy into the plant!