I Love You, Canada

 

Happy Canada Day! 

(it's a little quieter here today compared to yesterday!)

Sweet times!

I love you, Canada, home of many an afternoon

'ere fresh-made echoes wafted, soft on twilight's tender hush/brush...

I love you Canada, with lakes azure, and wheat fields, gold

And sweeps of green till fields are curbed by shorelines, treed and skied

And summers with days long and bright, and winters, white and cold

And springs, welcomed with open arms and autumns, auburn-dyed

I love you Canada, of friendly folk and flowered streets

Nation of ‘True North, Strong and Free’ founded by Christian men

I love your roaming cattle herds, your birds, your front row seats

To watch nature unfurling poetry beneath God’s pen

I love your orchards, vineyards, gardens burgeoning with fruit

I love the plethora of calls you employ, shore to shore

From mines to oilfields to ranches and farms, to business suit

To ship and lumber yards, fisheries, and craftsmen galore

I love your plains and mountain peaks, your rolling countryside

Your roads, wild-flower fringed or carved like craters through the snow

I love your villages and towns and cities, nationwide

Your rivers tumbling seaward, through rock cuts where no feet go

I love the nook that I call home; where someday history

Amongst its records of milestones that never make the news

Somewhere, some census-cyber-tome, will name my family

Canadians, no matter which highways they chance to choose

I love you, Canada, the precious freedoms you defend

Oh pray, the Lord we stand on guard against disunity

And do all that we can our hateful habits to amend

No matter what differences of opinion might be

…because a country is more than political degrees

A country is its people; every shade-shape-size and age

A country is like a collection of communities

Made up of many means whereby we earn our working wage

I love you, Canada, country of home, sweet home to me

Country of countless reasons to live thankfully and awed

Country for which many gave all to keep it strong and free

So that the likes of you and me could freely worship God

I love you, Canada, home of many an afternoon

'ere fresh-made echoes wafted, soft on twilight's tender hush/brush

Where mothers call and bedtime still always come far too soon 

Where some things never change in spite of Change's constant push/rush 

I love you Canada, home where Maple Leaf banners blow

Home of beauty beyond the begging ballads of a pen

Home of the hopes and dreams of our precious children, oh

God, keep our land glorious and free, honouring Thee. Amen

Janet Martin

Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, 

to receive glory and honor and power, 

for You created all things; 

by Your will they exist and were created.”

Jude 1:25
to the only God our Savior be glory,

 majesty, dominion, and authority 

through Jesus Christ our Lord 

before all time, and now, 

and for all eternity.

 Amen.

Speechless Solace...

How thankful I am to know God hears love's prayer-tears...

for my family, for my church-family and for my country!

Love's concern for family, friends and actually, universal fellowman is beyond comprehension 

because, as the great Scottish Poet Robbie/Rabbie Burns' father would caution him

 'we are headed, not to the grave but through the grave'...

and his mother, poor in worldly wealth all her life, was deeply concerned 

that Robbie would not become money-rich through his gift of poetry 

lest he falls into the snare of putting his trust in money rather than God!' 

(from the book The Wind That Shakes The Barley)

It is Canada Day but this morning my prayer cannot find words

 to adequately express thoughts and longings for this gorgeous plot of geography 

called Canada; a beautiful country founded in Christian faith 

and rich with Christian heritage. 

A country full of beautiful people called Canadians!

I'm thankful, God hears love's cries of the heart for a country 

whose foundation is crumbling because the Cornerstone is rejected!

***

Today's poem is inspired in part by part of my devotion this morning

from the paragraphs below by one of my all-time favourite authors; 

James Russel Miller

as well as from meditating on Sunday morning's message 

from the passage of Scripture from from Eph. 1;1-14

Not through the fluency of words most eloquently wrought

God hears our hearts; His own heart stirred by unutt'rable thought

As He reciprocates; not with audible answers heard

But through unfailing promises found in His faithful Word

He hears our prayers; the tears that rend the fabric of our souls 

The groan of earnest sentiment that heaves and aches and rolls

As we cry out for God to bless all who hunger and thirst

For the Strait Path of Righteousness through this old world, sin-cursed  

Where we are pressed on every side by idle apathy

Where accolades for greed and pride disdain humility

Where, until/unless we lean on God's knee and every groan outpour

We drift like a ship, lost at sea without hope of a shore

God lays His ear close to our tears; He hears each wordless plea 

He comforts us; and gently cheers us with His company 

Then, faith's Spiritual Treasure, is a blessing beyond ken

Poured out by God's good pleasure through His perfect will. Amen 

Janet Martin

How utterly incomparable is the place at God's feet, 

as we pour out to Him our heart-hunger and soul-yearnings,

 then comforted by the thought that

 'He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly

 above all that we ask or think'!

 Eph.3:20

Alan Jackson - What A Friend We have In Jesus [with lyrics]

 

Time, Precious Time

Happy July!

Glorious, sun-drenched blue-sky July!

The gardener's playground,

A child's splash of freedom from school-routines

A poet's (and farmer's) paradise 

of early daybreak and long, slow, dewy, dusty dusk!

In Canada we are celebrating Canada Day!

There is so much about this country I love and so much I mourn.

The faith/Rock it was built upon is being boldly trampled underfoot.

When a house or country is not built on the Rock but on sand, 

how great is the fall of it!

A country is only as strong as its people.

A people are only as strong as their faith.

Faith is only as strong as the Thing that fortifies it;

 how much we fear/revere the one true God

Prov.9:10-12

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,

and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

11For through wisdomb your days will be multiplied,

and years will be added to your life.

12If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage;

but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.

A cool, foggy beginning to July!

June's farewell dusk was a beauty to behold!

Precious Time is one thing we all have in common;

How much of it we have is up to Giver.

What we do with it is up to us!

Time is bestowed, not in lump sums, but sacred breath by breath

Only God knows how long before its lease succumbs to death

Where it is up to you and me to choose to use full-well

Each new day’s opportunity, before dusk’s tolling bell

Time’s moment-measure kindles clocks, and grants so much at stake

Where stepping stones and stumbling blocks are scattered in its wake

Where eyes and ears and feet and hands, (not commonplace at all)

Are instruments that Thought commands, while countries rise and fall

Time, precious time; a twinkling star filled with fleeting ado

Where what we think and who we are is up to me and you

Take heed; Thought is unmolded in accountability

After the tent is folded that harbours eternity

Time, precious time lowers a stage hinged to a solemn Door

On this side we engage in proving Who/who we most adore

But on the other side of it, after dusk’s final toll

Time, precious Time will be the flit that keeps all but the Soul

© Janet Martin

Matt.7:24-27

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,

 I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 

and the winds blew, and beat upon that house;

 and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,

 shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, 

and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; 

and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Happy Canada Day

A few links below to previous Canada Day poems!

They reiterate concerns becoming more dire 

and freedom becoming more dear with each year!!

Happy Canada Day!

O, Canada 

Prayer For Canada (or From Shore to Shore)

Somber Celebration-Happy Canada Day

O Canada, glorious and Free (oh, North America)

O True North, How long Will You Be Strong and Free?

Lamentations 3:40

Let us examine and probe our ways,

And let us return to the Lord.

Isaiah 55:7

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

As We All Are

The ending of the movie Stranger in Town

contains a speech with relevant reminders to all of us

all these decades later...

Stranger in Town Final Speech

(click on at 1:50 if you are in a hurry😉)

Politics is a topic that can lead to fiery discussion

and differing opinions!

Pray, more than anything we pray for our leaders

at every level for they are far more than representatives

of a political party.

They are living souls

As we all are!

“There are no ordinary people.

You have never talked with a mere mortal.”

C.S. Lewis

Meanwhile, we all are dearly loved

by the One who made us

'whether little girl with little curl'

or Leader for the better or worse

of the country he/she serves.

Prime-minister/president/political party bashing has never served to build

or heal and though today's voter's options seem sadly lacking

it is not a reflection of one man/one party, but rather of

 the nation's moral compass.

A country is not its prime-minister/president.

It is the people; you, me and every other

extra-ordinary human being we meet on a daily basis!

Deuteronomy 4:7
For what nation is great enough to have a god as near to them 

as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call on Him?

On Monday Canada goes to the polls to vote for Prime-minister

either a new one or more of the same,

but it is a dark time for many voters because

When a nation stops calling on

The One True God

We get what we deserve.

Oh God, help the future of the nations...

...for we are more than flesh and blood,

Than hands and feet

and lovely face

We are the handiwork of God

Therefore no one

is commonplace

All precious in the sight or He

Whether private

or super-star

He created mortality

With tender love

as we all are

Then pray, this common Bond of love

Not hate, advises

And controls

Both citizen and head of state

Are chariots of

deathless souls

Therefore, in spite of all we lack

Not one of us 

are very far

From giving up and giving back

To He who loves

As we all are

Then lest, because of mortal bent

We forget, we should

Think again

Our love for God is evident

by how we love

our fellowman

Janet Martin~ 

For here we have no continuing city, 

but we seek the one to come. Heb.13:14

A Rural Mural (of Ontario's August Countryside)

Ontario's August countryside is lovely to behold.

Landscapes are laid in checkered counterpanes of green and gold

Ditches and creek beds showcase wild-flowered extravagance

Where summer spills its heart in field and garden opulence 

Ontario's August countryside kindles poetic ink

In waist-deep pools of milkweed plumes, magenta and pale pink

In spools and spools of Queen Ann's Lace unrolled in dainty frills

In purple aster rivers, yellow hyssop, vine tendrils   

Ontario's August countryside serves up a wonder-feast

A buffet table groaning with the aftermath of seeds

Inviting us to partake from earth's smorgasbord unfurled

A healthy, hearty helping of nature's joy to the world

Ontario's August countryside is summer's centerfold

A mile-on-mile wide magazine of beauty to behold

Beneath clouds heaped like cauliflower on platters of blue

Page after page is filled with frames to thrill our points of view 

Ontario's August countryside evokes a worship hymn

Stirred by a breeze, harvest-dust-sweet as wheat is gathered in

As gardens become baskets brimming with treasure of fruit

And gardeners feel like dirt-pirates cum-bearing precious loot 

Ontario's August countryside enchants its passenger

Where soon Time claims its dues and shoos us into September 

So look a little longer where the dust of summer flies

Lest we should take for granted what is right before our eyes

...where pasturelands are dappled with cattle, where willows weep

Where leafy awnings toss shadow-piazzas, dark and deep

Where brooks meander, teasing us to slow our quickened stride

Through rural murals of Ontario's August countryside

© Janet Martin

 

Oh, True North, How Long Will You Be Strong and Free

I can't help but shed a tear as I listen to our glorious, national anthem...

The Canada this song was written for is still geographically accurate

but the people, oh, it's the people that make a country, 

not the dirt we stand on...

Another great rendition of our national anthem!

Oh Canada virtual Choir

I love Canada, and thankfully, we still enjoy many freedoms

however, I cannot glaze with praise that which is not praise-worthy...

Oh, True North strong and free

I mourn for you today

Bills like C-10 and 36

Are stripping ‘free’ away

Our home and native land

Poised on a precipice

As faith that it was founded on

Is scorned, ignored, dismissed

Our national anthem

Tweaked to please man, not God

Our House of Commons, prayer-devoid

Our leadership, a fraud

Grand worship-cathedrals

Deserted now for dreams

That disregard man’s Source of Strength

That binds a country’s seams

Oh Canada, you are

Hearts that once glowed with pride

You are the land for which so many

Sons and daughters died

And now some dare to think

(Wise in their own conceit)

That History’s permanent ink

They somehow can delete

...where ignorance is god

And atheism lord

And debt, a noose of corruption

Nobody can afford

Oh, True North Strong and Free

I mourn for you today

Because your/our strength and freedoms

Are being stripped away

© Janet Martin

Truth (and history) are indestructible

no matter what man destroys!

March on, Christian soldier/soul-dier

2 Chronicles 7:14

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves 

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, 

then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin 

and will heal their land.

Psalm 60:2
You have shaken the land and torn it open. 

Heal its fractures, for it is quaking.

James 4:10
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Keep old books, find them, protect them

 because the info on the internet is censored and unreliable

at the discretion of darkened understanding!

Above all keep This Book front and foremost!

Our country is in the state we are in because this book of Everlasting Truth

God's Word, is no longer front and foremost in our homes!

Strong faith = strong families 

strong families= strong homes 

strong homes= strong country!

My heart bursts with concern for the country these  precious tots

are growing up in!!!

Faith of Our Fathers...

Oh Canada, Glorious and Free (oh North America!!)

 below, yesterday's tot-craft!

Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. 

Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

Psalm 127:1

 Sharing the prayer at the close of Peter Marshall's sermon, The American Dream

(click link for the whole sermon)

Have you read it lately?

 It's truths apply to Canadians just as profoundly!

a few more excerpts (and this was preached in the1930's or 40's!!)

Ah liberty is never free; lest we forget midst common plan

To treasure with humility its prize, to serve our fellowman

And never take our eyes of He who keeps our true North strong and free

Where man’s downfall will ever be contempt for God’s supremacy

...for power-hungry greed destroys and pride always precedes the fall

And ignorance is greatest where God’s Word is treasured least of all

And then the blind, wise in their own eyes think they see and dare to lead

The flock over a precipice then bind their wounds with chains of need

...for freedom cannot long survive where godless logic takes the wheel

Ah, liberty is never freedom to forget its bloody seal

Or founding fathers full of faith; hope’s symbol raised on foreign sod

To proclaim peace and give first place to the authority of God

To pray for peace is ludicrous if we abandon its True Source

Hope without God is foolishness; a ship blown off its charted course

As wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing mingle with the loud, gullible crowd

And gloat at the prattling, pathetic prey of the godless and proud

Oh Canada, glorious and free; but oh, how certain seems thy fall

In vain we’ll stand on guard for thee if we forsake the Lord of all

Oh, Canada, the beautifully blessed because God’s grace is great

Our home and native land, oh Lord, waken before it is too late

Oh, Canada home of fine churches empty, because man neglects

The One who gave purpose to hard-working dreamers and architects

Oh Canada, glorious and free but doom looms large; thy lovely land

Of rocky heights and grassy sweeps slipping into heathen quicksand

Ah, liberty is never free; its privileges lent, not owned

Oh God, its loss is gathering momentum with each ‘prophet stoned’

And unless we repent oh Lord, our true North strong and free will fall

Oh Canada, before it is too late, pray for a miracle

© Janet Martin