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Saturday, October 15, 2022

Today-sums


After an incredibly productive, bittersweet, hectic week 
I am forcing myself to slow down a bit this morning,
something sometimes hard to do when so much to do seems always in the way!! 
So sometimes I need to consciously carve out little corners of refreshment 
lest Dear Duty blinds me to the Sheer Beauty of Today!



already Today has wowed!
this, the view through the window beside my writing desk.
Thank-you God!
(A view that faithful visitors are quite familiar with
because I love to share the delight of
 this view as it is transformed, morning to morning, season to season)



***
Last Saturday our son moved out for the foreseeable forever future!
As happy as I am for him, I am weathering the inevitable
mother-grief that comes with season-ends.
He has had brief stints of independence before,
but when I saw his books, basketball, fishing rod etc. 
on the heap of stuff piled at the door
I realized this move has a much more permanent flavor!



'Today' often dances across time's threshold so fleet-footedly
 we sometimes forget the cast Today-sums are creating!
So, lets fold hopes and hurts into prayer,
and place them in the hands of Today's Giver!
He is able!

This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches you what is best for you,
    who directs you in the way you should go.
Isa.48:14


The past is filled with all the things we always did ‘Today’
A cast instilled with echoes that sometimes come out to play
The loveliness of laughter in an afternoon beneath
The blue and balmy rafter that sweet summer days bequeath
Before the door we dashed through lowered a dusk-laden bar
On paint-trays that we splashed through on the way To Where We Are

The past, a vast collection of Love’s Once Upon a Time
Replays a frayed reflection of a muffled season-chime
Where once notes fell, keen and precise, in oft overlooked grace
Before the knell of Bygone’s bell enhanced the commonplace
As we are softly smitten by the sheerness of the flit
That scratches like a kitten with the sacredness of it

Look! Here a moment glimmers, ah, already it is spent
Past’s book of ages shimmers with pages once Present-bent/lent
How very velvet is the brush dipped into Time’s veiled tray
As its permanent ink arranges Tableaus of Today
And suddenly, how very rare Right Where We Are becomes
Aware of how a life is a Tally of Today-sums

The past is always hungry for the treasure in our hand
We cannot keep its measure from Yesterday’s shadowland
So, lest we are caught gazing at tincture on Bygone’s tray
Let’s keep a kind eye on the picture falling from Today
Because Love’s Once Upon a Time is always in full swing
A very virile season-chime of Today’s offering

…where God’s grace grants each new Today’s fresh opportunity
(Does it not bid us kneel and pray before we scale its lea?)
Lest boldly we set foot upon its very holy stage
Heedless of Who begets the dawn of Time’s unblemished page
And forget, what is spilled runs rife long after its foray
Because the past is always filled with life we lived Today

© Janet Martin

So, wherever in the world you are
Happy, holy Today!


Moments are a momentous gift!
'Today' sums up a life in no time flat!
Let's treasure the mementos moments make!



2 comments:

  1. Janet your words are beautiful. I can imagine it is difficult to have your son leave home. Nothing remains the same but from the photos and your poem you have just the right thoughts that God has given you to know how to let go and trust He will continue to care for your boy! Take care. I so enjoy reading your writings.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie, Your comment is like a great big hug! thank-you so much <3

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I hope you enjoyed your pause on this porch and thank-you for your visit!