Tuesday, June 30, 2020

If She Could (a Farewell to June)







And so begins the beauty-blur of summer in its beaming prime
And if she could she’d try to slow the hurried foot of Father Time
Where June slipped through her fingers with its flurry of petals and wings
And if she could she’d thread each day like pearls upon silver-swirled strings
As fields are folded into hay and longest days still seem too small
And if she could she’d heap a tray with keepsakes felled from nature’s hall
For always she is overcome with a parental tug of heart
And if she could she’d frame the spectrum of Echo’s elusive art
Where part of her will always stay entangled in June’s wonderment
And if she could she’d find a way to let go without fond lament
But love is always a fine mingling of bitter and sweet entwined
And if she could she would (sometimes) return to places left behind
For June never seems long enough to satisfy the poet’s yen
And if she could she would (just once) turn back and do it all again

© Janet Martin

I really would do June all over again if I could! 
This June the weather was almost perfect!



Not Only For The Gifts...







 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, 
and comes down from the Father of lights, 
with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James 1:17 NKJV


Not only for the gifts, dear Lord
Though mercy-tides abound
With blessing no wealth could afford
If owed by buck or pound

We thank Thee, not just for the gift
But for the Giver too
With humble gratitude we lift
Our utter praise to You

For what, oh Lord, is man that Thou
Maker of Heav’n and earth
Shouldst ever so freely endow
Mortal with mercy’s worth

Then, greater than the gifted Thing
Though we are humbly awed
Is He who gives; and thus we sing
Our praise to Thee, oh God

© Janet Martin

Psalm 96

 Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his[a] holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
12 Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
13 Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Monday, June 29, 2020

The Awe of What Yet Waits...(or The Forwardness of Time)


 Yesterday, at the close of our worship service our pianist thanked God
not only for what He has done but for what He is going to do!
Isn't that an amazing Anticipation to start a new week on...
the hope and assurance of what He yet will do!



The forwardness of time is something none of us can overpow’r
And who of us can force the bud or pull its petal into flow’r
The finer things of love and life are not its passions we pursue
But rather the peace He will tender as we surrender anew

The ether tulle that tints the crepuscule that snuffs the dimming day
Soon dons the brush that spawns the blush that yawns the hush of night away
To kindle in the dwindling barge a charge that sparks the sacred toll
Where time’s sliver of light we see is but eternity’s keyhole

The say and do of me and you in time’s grand scheme may seem minute
But ho! The seeds of words and deeds will without fail unveil its fruit
And what seemed of small recompense when falling from our hands or lips
Becomes the bedrock or the bog whereby somebody stands or slips

The way we are can scar a soul without the holiness of God
He grants the grace that makes us whole in spite of holes in our façade
Where without Him the forwardness of time is a grim enterprise
Because it leaves us without hope when death has cut us down to size

The forwardness of time does not return us to yester’s despair
Its ladder that we climb is anchored in God’s everlasting care
Where all that he has done does not exhaust the mercy dawn makes new
But ushers with the rising sun the awe of what He yet will do

© Janet Martin

"Oh God, will you give me the song to share today?"
I prayed before I clicked Youtube 
And the song below was the first 'suggestion'!!
perfect.
No better words to start a day or week on!
Thank-you Lord!

 

A friend sent me this song today after reading this post.





Saturday, June 27, 2020

Suddenly It Is Saturday


A lot of weathered hopes will be rolled forward
to be repeated this coming week, Lord willing
especially as we pray for those in and beside sick-beds!




Between the folds of gold and gray
Another week is rolled away
With ups and downs and grins and frowns
Suddenly it is Saturday

The bloom that popped the bud last week
Has dropped her petal on earth’s cheek
Each hour felled and freed to meld
With what we held but could not keep

Ho, ho, Time’s rough-and-tumble pace
Would be a rat-race, (but for grace)
So on we press with humble ‘yes’
Prayer in the heart, smile on the face

While mile on mile through come-what-may
With smiles we smile and prayers we pray
With hope and trust, midst may and must
Suddenly it is Saturday

The dust that settles at our feet
Where want and wonderment compete
Arrange with ease the memories
Of love’s mementos, bittersweet

Dear Lord, so rich in mercy, guide
Until we cross this time tossed-tide
That files its ways through Saturdays
Until we reach The Other Side

© Janet Martin

 ...And lead us not into temptation, 
but deliver us from the evil one.'
Matt.6:13