Showing posts with label honesty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label honesty. Show all posts

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Some Serious Not-Just-For Sunday Thoughts

From reading the story of the Good Samaritan,

From the reading of this passage Matthew 15
and most recently, from a request for permission to use a poem about Hypocrisy
 
my thoughts have turned to the topic of Hypocrisy and modern-day Pharisees.
...and this passage from first Cor. 11: 27-29
 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner 
will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.

I Sam.16:7 NIV
 The LORD does not look at the things people look at. 
People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

There is only one language for the follower of Christ; Love!



Lest we offer vain oblation
For the benefit of eyes
Lest we sacrifice salvation
On an altar of disguise
Lest we break the heart of Jesus
By our stone-cold apathy
Pray the Lord, as He so pleases
To teach us humility

Lest we decorate deception
With the noise of piety
While the poor suffer rejection
From modern-day Pharisee
Lest our stubborn heart refuses
To acknowledge our sin
Pray the Lord as He so chooses
Our deathless soul to win

Lest Perception is a demon
Soothing guilt with silk-smooth lies
Licking wounds of pride with poison
Till the Taker of it dies
Lest we always look around us
Pointing out failure and flaw
Pray the Lord, He would remind us
Man is saved by grace, not law

Lest we never bow in sorrow
while repentance rends the veil
As we witness Calv’ry’s  horror
Where love did and does not fail
Lest we never come to Jesus
But break holy bread in vain
Pray the Lord, as He so loves us
That we will be born again

© Janet Martin

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Cleaning Day

PAD Challenge day 22: For today’s prompt, take the phrase “(blank) Day;” replace the blank with a word or phrase; make the new phrase the title of your poem; and then, write your poem. Possible titles might include: “Happy Day,” “Sunny Day,” “Thanksgiving Day,” and “Happy Birthday.”





Tis wise to take the time sometimes to clean out nooks and crooks
To chase the drowsing bunnies from do-dads and brick-a-brac
To leaf through closets, cupboards like the pages of old books
And wrest with cloth-broom-mop stayed dust from crevice-corner-crack

Tis wise sometimes to take the time to swallow our pride 
And tackle 'drawers' oh horrors, we keep hid from outside folk
Its strange, what human nature can ignore, excuse and hide
Until some unsuspecting 'oops, oh my!' gives it a poke

Then shake and scrub, rub-a-dub-dub, sweep out the 'shame on me'
To keep a house in order requires old-fashioned grit
But hard work will return the 'rooms' to what they ought to be
The sparkle worth the effort that it took to polish it

Janet Martin


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Kid's Poem on Telling the Truth




I ought to never tell a lie
‘Cause lies like company
And soon the lie that first was one
Turns into two or three
For when a lie begins to lose
Its word-woven disguise
We protect it from the truth
By telling some more lies
And suddenly it’s hard to tell
How many lies were said
So it is always wise and well
To tell the truth instead

© Janet Martin


Wednesday, November 28, 2012

The Truth About Lying



Poetics Aside prompt: Write a poem illuminating how it feels to stand up for what is right in the face of adversity in the workplace.

Honor or money
Which will it be?
For I can fool others
But I can never fool me

The plaque on the wall
Will mock me with truth
If I succeed through a lie
What truth could not do

I want to look myself
Straight in the eye
Not blush because
All I see is a lie

Money can never
Buy out regret
Or clear the conscience
Of its debt

Bills will keep coming
Words slip with ease
But guilt is an albatross
Money cannot appease

To suffer the truth
Or spill pretense?
To keep my job
At honor's expense?

What can we say
To our children and youth
If we choose to lie
Then try to teach truth?

The cost of a lie
Is hidden from view
To keep a lie covered
Requires at least two

God forbid
I should lie so much
That I no longer feel
Reproach's touch

A lie is a shackle
Of misery
But the truth will always
Set you free

Money or sacrifice?
Fortune or trust?
Riches in heaven?
Or treasures of dust?

Guilt or peace?
Honor or shame
What will they remember
When someone speaks my name?

Today we live
Tomorrow we die
Nothing is worth
The price of a lie

Janet Martin










Monday, November 12, 2012

Because She Understands





When I am brave
I peer into the mirror
And look straight into the eyes that I cannot gyp
Because I know her better
Than anyone else
How she aches at the touch of the moments that slip
And how her face
Is a misleading veneer
To the passion and folly and wonder that throbs
In misconstrued messages
Floundering clumsily
In sighs or silence, in laughter, in sobs
For there are no words
To accurately spell
Her deepest fulfillment or daring demands
But when I am brave
I look in the mirror
Straight into her eyes because she understands

© Janet Martin

Friday, November 9, 2012

Beautiful Truth





He wishes now
He had not lied
For beautiful truth
Has nothing to hide

…so, dear young child
Do not lie to your mother
For one small lie
Will lead to another

© Janet Martin

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Undisguised Honesty




If raw ink-drops would bleed our deepest thought
And there would be no seal upon our pen
If we should dare to unleash verbal blood
Allowing suppressed emotion its free reign
Would any love us when the truth has spilt?
Or would love redeem the anguish of our guilt?

Distorted law may raise its gavel higher
And sear truth’s parchment in its pious clutch
The fullness of admission sparks a fire
Where secret follies are too clear to touch
And judgment blushes, for a kindred spark
Opens to usher light into the dark

If raw ink drops would spill across a page
Where none could shield the truth with painted lies
If honesty would blaze on center stage
Appalling in its naked un-disguise
Would there be any left to shake our hand?
Would any whisper, yes, I understand?

© Janet Martin

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

This Person.......


Who is this person?
This creature of habit…
Habits that drive others crazy
But I find endearing
Or used to….perhaps?
Who is this person?
Who laughs and smiles
And has the occasional growl
When she is weary
Or when I drive her crazy
Who is she, this one
Who comforts me?
My lovely friend
Even when I don’t see
Her; still she remains
Tenderly, dearly, at my side
Who is this woman?
Once she was my bride
Gazing at me…
….in love, starry-eyed
We’ve come a long way
Together, she and I
As she became mother
And we began to divide
The hours and days
That once belonged to
She and I…..
Who is this person
This half of my life
I've grown so accustomed to.....
Ah yes, she is my wife

Janet~

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Drink.......


Cold and a little bitter
When I swallowed it tasted like dirt
I should have asked for a different flavor
A drink of truth can hurt

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Friday, May 7, 2010

Truth



Like petals that drift from the apple-tree
Your words return on the wind
Beautiful sentiments spoken to me
Syllables noble and kind

Tell me again the words you said
They are so lovely to hear
Echoing now within my head
Laughing in my ear

“You are so beautiful, the one I adore
Please, lay your head on my chest
I’ve never loved anyone like this before
Darling, you are the best

Words like precious and perfect and fine
I taste them in tiny sips
I long to drink the sweet red wine
Flowing from your lips

But now I reflect on your many words
Alone, when the night wind is still
For darling, your eyes tell me so much more
Than the words from your lips ever will

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Sunday, May 2, 2010

My 'Druthers'


I’druther you were painfully honest with me
And my feelings would sting for a while
Than to walk with you down a fern-lined street
As you lie to me through your smile
I’druther be a little homely
Than a cheap and painted fraud
Who wears a mask to fool people
Forgetting I can never fool God
I’ruther be poor and happy
Learning to be content
Than rich with a pocket of fool’s gold
That brings no joy when it’s spent
I’druther have one friend who is honest
Than a hundred which seem to lack
The ability to be faithful
As they stab me in the back
I’druther have a house full of laughter
With furniture battered and scarred
Than live in a palace that’s silent
With every façade unmarred
I’druther have my arms full of children
Than trophies and accolades
And I like a ten-minute vacation
Beneath the willow’s shade
I’druther drive my ugly mini-van
With a happy family
Than be alone with a perfect tan
In a red Lamborghini
I’druther have a little trouble
Here on my acre of sod
Than live in a perfect bubble
Where I would never need God

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Second Time Around




Words can leave us dazed and warm
And sweep us off our feet
We drink the cocktail of their charm
Alluring, sparkling, sweet
But as its warmth and nuance change
We spit it on the ground
And hope we are much wiser
The second time around

Flattery in cunning style
May fool us for a moment
It may lure us for awhile
Like a fine new garment
But in time its glitter fades
Its glory turns to rust
For flattery is a foolish trade
For honesty, love and trust

I’ll take the wine of a lesser fruit
Though not as smooth or pleasing
If it is pure, unaltered truth
Its virtue will be unceasing
Oh, I’ve known flattery in my time
And one simple truth I’ve found
I am a wiser woman
The second time around

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin