Above All (Else)

Jim (my husband) called while I was struggling 

through the middle of the third stanza of today's poem, 

and in the course of conversation he remarked 

that he's driving through a stretch of the north 

that always feels like forever to get through!!

I told him 'thank-you!! that imagery was exactly what I needed

 to give this poem steam through the middle of it!

(Jim is a great conversationalist and I've written many a verse whilst conversing, 

or, he converses and I interject an occasional 'ugh-huh')😅😂💖

The initial inspiration of this poem was sparked after I came home last night

 after enjoying dinner at my daughter's home and getting a first-hand reminder 

of the end of day endurance tests when children are tired and parents are too!

Hang in there, parents of little children! 

it really is worth every lackluster labor of love!

Hang in there mother/daddy that feels like you walk or rock, 

rather than sleep the night away!

Hang in there, engineer of eighteen wheels. 

And we will soon welcome you to warm home fires, Lord willing! 

Hang in there, dear daughter-son-parent-spouse etc, traveling home after dark 

after spending precious time with a loved one in a long term care facility or hospital! 

Hang in there, husband and wife whose marriage ties seem strained to breaking point! 

God is love! 

Love never fails!

***

I couldn't help but chuckle at the amplified tranquility

of our house after we returned home last night.

That forever-stretch of raising youngsters,

as I look back feels more like a silk scarf

that slip-slipped through my fingers and disappeared!

only Victoria and I left to decorate the tree

while listening to Christmas music...

bittersweet!!

(for her and me)

Above all else, though duty’s dues may seem common and small

And in the grand scheme of pursuits, not very grand at all

Where no corporate ladder hails to scale with eagerness

And no plaque or trophy regales accomplishment’s success

Where no one notes the unsung skills of mundane ministry

Or celebrates the daily drills of domesticity

Above all else, no matter how we view Duty’s reply

It is not what but Who we do it for, not where but why

Then, in our search to satisfy fulfillment’s siren call

We find, to our surprise, a One-size Reason that fits all

For we will find the kind of wealth that always grants Enough

When what we do, above all else, is a labour of love

Love is enough to make remarkable, the commonplace

It transforms life into a miracle of joy and grace

It equips us to weather what loveless motives reject

For, ‘stretches of forever’ are so brief in retrospect

The miles that seem mundane, thankless, a mess of prayers and tears/fears

Soon meld into the counterpane of yester-days-and-years

Love instills wonder, thrills the things of modest recompense

It fills the world with whirring wings we cannot see, but sense

Because angels of mercy travel on the common beat

Clad in workday apparel; their wings look like hands and feet

As love fills with thunderous applause, each care-worn mile they trod

For above all, love is the wondrous evidence of God

Above all, let love carve a sacred crucifix within

Above all, fix faith's sight-scarred gaze, on the image of Him

Upon a cross, a cross that should have been for you and me

He bore love's brutal albatross to show how love should be

So, lest love grows ungrateful when love seems impossible 

Remember, love is faithful and will triumph, above all

© Janet Martin

1 Cor.13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. 

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

 it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 

7 It always protects, always trusts,

 always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails.