Thursday, March 21, 2024

Of (Fleeting) Time and Place


I'm currently working at painting and preparing a vacant bedroom
as a spare bedroom (aka grandchildren's sleepover room😊😉💓)

Two coats of primer later, Matt's old room colour, 
the colour of a basketball, is simply a memory!
painted during the boyhood basketball phase of his life;
 a phase long overtaken by more pressing matters, (like mortgages,😅)
Proof of the fleeting POOF!
of stages and ages, interests and passions!

Reminding us to build on the eternal 
rather than the temporal because...
 ...the things which are seen are temporary, 
 the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Cor.4:18

I finished listening to this book yesterday as I painted...


The book is filled with profound thoughts and experiences 
but the one below, near the end of the book
made me put down my brush and jot it down!
Starkly relevant for the age we are in...
(When, after gaining access to a country through great effort and pains,
 he (Brother Andrew) proceeded to hand out Bibles, but no one seemed interested)
And he was struck with this revelation-
'Persecution was an enemy the church had met and mastered many times.
Indifference could prove to be a far more dangerous foe!'

**

Pray, we do not slip into indifference, 
but live, deeply aware that we are all 
on a very impending verge... of  eternity

***

Jude 1:3-4
Beloved, although I made every effort to write to you about the salvation we share,
 I felt it necessary to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith
 entrusted once for all to the saints. 
4For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—
ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. 
They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, 
and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

***
 
The blessings we enjoy
The heartaches we endure
Grievances that annoy
Dreams loosed from the mind’s moor

The ups and downs we face
The fights twixt faith and fear
Are all hallmarks of time and place
And temporary, dear

Love’s holy exercise
Of hold-and-letting-go
Of glad hellos and hard goodbyes
Of retrospect’s slideshow

Of choice, for better-worse
And not all it appears
Of consequence we bless or curse
With laughter or with tears

Pleasure’s brief blitz of bliss
Suffering’s griefs and pains
All pass way; the genesis
To all that yet remains

Of everlasting gain
Or everlasting loss
These moments in the sun and rain
Are but bridges we cross

That lead away from This
Brief encounter with grace
Where soul alone transcends What Is
Of fleeting Time and Place

The fool rejects this truth
The wise take heed and pray
Because death is the living proof
Of this world’s little stay

Then, while we can, prepare
To meet Thy God, before
We step from time’s fleet thoroughfare
Into Forevermore

© Janet Martin

2 comments:

  1. Good job!! So much work!! But will be beautiful! That sounds like a great book too..
    We had our annual craft party at Marlene today. Good day also. ❤️

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    Replies
    1. thank-you sis<3 Yes. The book is an utterly astounding reminder of the faithfulness of God to those who put their trust in Him! So many phenomenal experiences of blessing his life of sacrifice!
      My plans to watch Grandson today changed so i will likely work in the room again. After the primer i realized the trim needs freshening too!! It looks yellow instead of white.
      I'm sure you had a great day with family yesterday!

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