How To Recognize What Matters Most

Yesterday morning began a new year of Sunday School,

at our church,

and as I joined the group of teachers and children

something hard to explain ripped through me...

such love for a room packed with Eager Innocence!!

(soon under fire!!)

What a sacred charge, for we who are older

to teach, (far more by example than words)

our children to remember their Creator in the days of their youth

and what it means to love the Lord, (y)our God,

with all (y)our heart, soul, strength and mind

and to love (y)our neighbour as (y)ourself! 

Luke 10:27,Mark 12:30-31,Matthew 22:37-40,

Deuteronomy 6:5,Deuteronomy 30:6,Romans 13:9,James 2:8,

Mark 12:33-34,Leviticus 19:18,1 John 3:18,Deuteronomy 10:12,

Matthew 19:19,Hebrews 8:10,Galatians 5:13

Children are such precious jewels!!

When He Cometh 

The older that we grow the harder it becomes to change set ways!

How crucial, while we may, to pray, 'God teach us to number our days...

...so we may gain a heart of wisdom, before days come, trouble-cursed

Before we find no pleasure in seeking God and His kingdom first

Before worldly cares choke His Word that fell like seed on thorny ground

Before strife or the pride of life lures love, still innocent and sound 

Before desire is not stirred to love the Lord with all we have

Before we boast, forgetful of Who's goodness and mercy forgave

...Us, while we were still dead in sin, sinless, God's Lamb was sacrificed

To rend the temple's veil and anchor Living Hope in Jesus Christ 

Granting to heirs of Love's great promise, consolation, strong and sure 

Fitting faith, when facing temptation, with conviction to endure

Before we grow old, habit-hardened, heart untuned to wisdom's ways/praise 

Pray the Lord to teach us early how to humbly number our days 

...and how to recognize the gain of what appears most modest mien 

Faith, the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things unseen 

 

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12

Remember your Creator

in the days of your youth,

before the days of trouble come

and the years approach when you will say,

“I find no pleasure in them”—

2 before the sun and the light

and the moon and the stars grow dark,

and the clouds return after the rain;

3 when the keepers of the house tremble,

and the strong men stoop,

when the grinders cease because they are few,

and those looking through the windows grow dim;

4 when the doors to the street are closed

and the sound of grinding fades;

when people rise up at the sound of birds,

but all their songs grow faint;

5 when people are afraid of heights

and of dangers in the streets;

when the almond tree blossoms

and the grasshopper drags itself along

and desire no longer is stirred.

Then people go to their eternal home

and mourners go about the streets.

6 Remember him—before the silver cord is severed,

and the golden bowl is broken;

before the pitcher is shattered at the spring,

and the wheel broken at the well,

7 and the dust returns to the ground it came from,

and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

8 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher.[a]

“Everything is meaningless!”

9 Not only was the Teacher wise, 

but he also imparted knowledge to the people. 

He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. 

10 The Teacher searched to find just the right words, 

and what he wrote was upright and true.

11 The words of the wise are like goads,

 their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails

—given by one shepherd.[b] 

12 Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them.

Of making many books there is no end, 

and much study wearies the body.

13 Now all has been heard;

here is the conclusion of the matter:

Fear God and keep his commandments,

for this is the duty of all mankind.

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment,

including every hidden thing,

whether it is good or evil.

Tell-tale Signs of Joy to Come (on the laughing tide of life)

 Today's prompt from Robert Lee Brewer for poem-a-day challenge

For today's prompt, take the phrase "Tell (blank),"

replace the blank with a new word or phrase,

make the new phrase the title of your poem, and then, write your poem.

In Ontario we are in the see-saw season of

'ah, spring, oh, winter, ah, spring, oh-h...'

Beneath the garden bench crocuses beam with plucky grace...

Futile to try to pry the bud to haste the bloom, or seize

A broom to sweep dustings of snow from hills and streets and lanes

To everything a season; soon the nakedness of trees

Will don fresh fronds of emerald lace and lofty leaf-refrains

Nature is never anxious, never ruffled by protest

It does not miss a beat, no matter how we rue its pace

Ah look, in the crook of the apple tree, a robin's nest

Beneath the garden bench crocuses beam with plucky grace

Foolish to chase the wind or shake an ineffectual fist

At Old Man Winter clinging to what not-a-one can keep

Ah, let him roar and war against the tug of shores, sun-kissed

Soon soft zephyrs will dance across meadows dappled with sheep

Futile to fret. Let hope whet appetites for joys at hand

As the first tell-tale signs of spring intensify until

Nothing can stem the laughing tide of life that sweeps the land

With green grandeur, pink blossom-blush and yellow daffodil

Janet Martin

Spring Waltz (Mariage d'Amour) Chopin

The first line in the 3rd stanza drew me to Ecclesiastes!

The endeavor...

Eccles.1:14

Ecclesiastes 1:17
So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly;

 I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind...

Ecclesiastes 2:11

Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished

 and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile,

 a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:17

So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. 

For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 2:26

To the man who is pleasing in His sight, 

He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy,

 but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating

 that which he will hand over to one who pleases God.

 This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:4

I saw that all labor and success spring from a man's envy of his neighbor. 

This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 4:16

There is no limit to all the people who were before them. 

Yet the successor will not be celebrated by those who come even later. 

This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

Ecclesiastes 6:9

Better what the eye can see than the wandering of desire. 

This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

The conclusion...

Ecclesiastes 12:13
When all has been heard, the conclusion of the matter is this:

 Fear God and keep His commandments,

 because this is the whole duty of man.

Sacred, Fleeting Season

Suddenly, as I worked on this post, I couldn't stop weeping

for all the precious children of the world!

(How often it is the innocent who suffer

where innocence untaught 

grows up not knowing 

what they know not)

How sacred is the virgin soil

Of childhood's innocence ...

It is no mere coincidence that a child loves to hear about Jesus!

Every child in my childcare has shown me unbridled delight as we pause

before lunch to thank God for our food with this little prayer

God is great, God is good

Let us thank Him for our food

By His hands we all are fed

Thank-you Lord, for daily bread

Amen

From wide-eyed curiosity of a one-year old to eventually joining in,

 their faces beam with pure joy from pure hearts

as we thank God!

(and oh, the glorious conversations this little prayer sparks💗🙏)

On the inside cover of  a vintage version of The Pilgrim's Progress

 is this certificate of acknowledgement to honor the recipient of the reward.

Imagine if we still handed out such noble literature in our public schools

 as rewards to students!

Today students in this system,  

as tender as 5 years old 

(if the teacher chooses to comply)

are taught/groomed to dispute the indisputable...

He created them male and female, 

and blessed them 

and called them Mankind 

in the day they were created. 

Gen.5:2

Matthew 19:4

Jesus answered, "Have you not read that from the beginning 

the Creator 'made them male and female,'

Mark 10:6

However, from the beginning of creation,

 'God made them male and female.'

...and we wonder at the chaos and confusion of this age?!!

where by and large, the world has turned its back on God?!!

and ignores His everlasting Word?!!

Where defiled hearts defile innocence?!!

Evil as surely as good 

recognizes the sacred, fleeting season of childhood!

How sacred is the virgin soil

Of childhood's innocence  

How terribly accountable

Each one who tills and plants

Where evil as surely as Good

Recognizes this truth;

The fleeting season of childhood 

Soon sheds its tender youth

How then, we ought to sift the seeds 

That fall, so they will sprout 

A goodly crop, to choke the weeds

Of heresy and doubt 

Before planting time, brief and fair

Slips from the supple limb   

Remember the Creator, ere

They find no joy in Him

Janet Martin

"H-m-m! He's got one too!"

exclaimed Innocent Granddaughter at her observation

during little boy's diaper-change.

"Just like my baby brother!"

'Yes' I replied.

'that means he's a boy! 

If you 'got one' you're a boy!

If you don't, you are a girl!

God made it that simple and easy to figure out

and don't ever let anyone tell you any different!'

(Believe it or not, these unthinkable conversations are important today!!)

Eccles. 12 NASB

Remember God in Your Youth

12 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, 

before the evil days come and the years approach 

when you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”

; 2 before the sun and the light,

 the moon and the stars are darkened, 

and clouds return after the rain; 

3 on the day that the watchmen of the house tremble, 

and strong men are bent over, 

the grinders stop working because they are few, 

and those who look through [a]windows grow [b]dim; 

4 and the doors on the street are shut 

as the sound of the grinding mill is low, 

and one will arise at the sound of the bird, 

and all the daughters of song will [c]sing softly. 

5 Furthermore, people are afraid of a high place 

and of terrors on the road; 

the almond tree blossoms, 

the grasshopper drags itself along, 

and the caper berry is ineffective. 

For man goes to his eternal home 

while the mourners move around in the street. 

6 Remember your Creator before the silver cord is [d]broken 

and the golden bowl is crushed, 

the pitcher by the spring is shattered 

and the wheel at the cistern is crushed; 

7 then the dust will return to the earth as it was, 

and the [e]spirit will return to God who gave it. 

8 “Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “all is futility!”

9 In addition to being wise, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge;

 and he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.

 10 The Preacher sought to find delightful words and to write words of truth correctly.

11 The words of the wise are like [f]goads, 

and masters of these collections are like driven nails; 

they are given by one Shepherd. 

12 But beyond this, my son, be warned: 

the [g]writing of many books is endless, 

and excessive study is [h]wearying to the body.

13 The conclusion, when everything has been heard, is: 

fear God and keep His commandments, 

because this applies to every person. 

14 For God will bring every act to judgment, 

everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.

Of Glint and Fray

It is impossible 

to return

to undo 

or redo

what we would do

differently 

if given the chance

All we can do

is the best 

we can do

with what we hold

today...

This💖💖💖 (do you remember those dream-sweet play-days?)💘

Lots of little flash-back moments as the tots of today

dust off the toys of yesterday

and fill them with starry-eyed pleasures once again,

as the little hands that used to play with them are now 

juggling the demands and responsibilities

of growing up

Timeless thrills...

The beginning...

I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; 

and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

Eccles.1:14

The conclusion...

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:

 Fear God and keep his commandments, 

for this is the duty of all mankind.

Eccles.12:13

Ah, life the way it used to be

Gleams like a summer, sun-kissed sea

Cupped in a sigh, a memory

A vault of yesterdays

Whilst look, the dark above us dims

Like brook-song, morning’s skyline brims

A canticle of hopes-whims-hymns

Shimmers on untouched trays

…with friendship waiting to be made

With Duty’s common promenade

With Poetry’s awed escapade

With high five and low blow

With mercy and sufficient grace

With smile upon a loved one’s face

With hand to hold and dream to chase

With wonderment and woe

…with turning older, tick by tock

Yet, learning not to watch the clock

But rather where and how we walk

While Time is on our side

To try to taste full flavors of

The subtle nuances of love

And to never get quite enough

Of moments not yet tried

While dust to dust and ash to ash

Waits to reduce its starry splash

And slow the feet that dance and dash

Through childhood’s greenest green

Until they too gaze at a sea

Cupped in a sigh, a memory

Of life the way it used to be

Before the years between

Ah, life the way it used to be

Is juxtaposed with you and me

And present opportunity

To tint the glint and fray

That tunes the tide that ebbs and flows

With echo-molded mementos

That wash in pictures we compose

With what we hold today 

© Janet Martin

Aha, Aha, There Still Is Nothing New (Under the Sun)

Eccles.1:9

What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.

Where flowers, I think still must be the love language of God...

The wonder in the flaring of first light ere dusk enchants...

It’s nothing new, the scolding of a puppy, garden-wild...

The nurturing and shaping of the green vine of a child...

(So much to be thankful for/aka life, turned this poem into a two day 'adventure')

It’s nothing new, the scolding of a puppy, garden-wild

The nurturing and shaping of the green vine of a child

Still no amount of wishing can undo what has been done

Aha, aha, no, there is nothing new under the sun

Where faithful moms and dads are heroes seldom hailed or cheered

Where love’s lifetime commitment is oft not glory-veneered

Where patience is a virtue tested and retested, hon

Aha, aha, no there is nothing new under the sun

Deception’s fraud still masquerades as fruit to make us wise

God is not mocked; He keeps his promises, in spite of lies

We grow to be astonished at how swift time’s seasons run

Aha, aha, there is still nothing new under the sun

The words a poet snares to shape into new twists of rhyme

Are wheedled from the fathoms of a fount as old as time

As we seek to bring honour to Author of sky-sea-sod

Where flowers, I think still must be the love language of God

The noise and joys of little boys and girls chock-full of vim

Like June before the countenance of summer starts to dim

The way a day can fade before it has barely begun

Aha, aha, no, there is nothing new under the sun

The hunger in our bearing for something Time never grants

The wonder in the flaring of first light ere dusk enchants

The awe as nature's shuttle whirs and Beauty's best is spun 

Aha, aha, there is still nothing new under the sun

A time to plant, a time to reap, a time to live and die

A time to laugh, a time to weep as the Soul learns to fly

*Where time still crawls while watching clocks and waiting for someone

Aha, aha, no there is nothing new under the sun

The conclusion of life’s matter has not altered its plan

‘Fear God and keep His commandments, the whole duty of man’

For God will judge good deeds and bad of each and everyone

Aha, aha, there still is nothing new under the sun

© Janet Martin

Eccles.12:13-14

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: 

Fear God, and keep his commandments: 

for this is the whole duty of man.

 For God shall bring every work into judgment, 

with every secret thing, 

whether it be good, 

or whether it be evil.

*This poem was inspired by the second last line in the second last verse...

(don't ask me why the line landed there.

Sometimes poems have a mind of their own)

It started yesterday morning when Little Girl

who arrived at 6:15 was excited for it to be 9:45 

because she was going to swimming lessons with her cousin.

So, for the next 3.5 hrs. approximately every 5-10 minutes

she would ask 'is my best friend Ellie going to be here soon?'

So cute💗💗💗

(I didn't always answer)😂

"Is my best friend Ellie going to be here soon?"

I'm thinking Gymnastics after swimming lessons???

  

Quite a Day-and-Night Indictment

Sometimes dawn is a gray slate,

..and sometimes a scroll of molten pink and gold!

...but always the same God bestows!

Darkness recedes as daylight seeps from deeps unscathed by eyes 

The seamless sweep of moments metes new day’s virginal prize 

Time’s treasure trove of push and shove and Love’s stumble-pocked chase 

Is overflowing with the glowing Evidence of grace 

The darksome lid of Said-and-Did lowered and sealed its cask 

Where what seems hidden is soon bidden to some fellow’s flask 

There is a spigot in the frigate filled with gated shores 

And from the drum of Said-and-done its gravid gumption pours 

This breath of life is like a knife where strife and hunger test 

Its death-doomed roar with birth once more in tours form east to west 

Where Hope, abreast dawn’s maiden quest that soon begets farewell 

Will help us cope while moments slope toward Heaven or hell 

This daily grace none can retrace, laced with most Sacred Fact 

Is like a barge laden with Charge, life-at-large keeps intact 

Darkness recedes while Someone heeds the needs none can outfox 

Soul, hidden in a skiff of rag-thin skin, sutured by clocks 

Tick-tock, tick-tock, stitching and unravelling synchronized 

The boon of morning, noon and night, a schooner, Mercy-prized 

Its journey to, nay, through the grave, may seem sustained on sod 

But it is quite a day-and-night-indicted trek to God 

© Janet Martin 

Sometimes I like to take rhyming challenges to the limits...

It isn't perfect, but was still a thrill to try.

The beginning of the Book of  Ecclesiastes;

 The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem.

“Vanity[a] of vanities,” says the Preacher;

“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

What profit has a man from all his labor

In which he [b]toils under the sun?4 

One generation passes away, and another generation comes;

But the earth abides forever.5 

The sun also rises, and the sun goes down,

And [c]hastens to the place where it arose.6 

The wind goes toward the south,

And turns around to the north;

The wind whirls about continually,

And comes again on its circuit.7 

All the rivers run into the sea,

Yet the sea is not full;

To the place from which the rivers come,

There they return again.8 

All things are [d]full of labor;

Man cannot express it.

The eye is not satisfied with seeing,

Nor the ear filled with hearing

That which has been is what will be,

That which is done is what will be done,

And there is nothing new under the sun.

The Ending of the Book of Ecclesiastes;

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:

Fear God and keep His commandments,

For this is man’s all.

14 

For God will bring every work into judgment,

Including every secret thing,

Whether good or evil.

Case You Wonder If You're The Only One...

PAD Challenge day 4: For today’s prompt, take the phrase “Case (blank);” replace the blank with a word or phrase; make the new phrase the title of your poem; and then, write your poem. Possible titles include: “Case of Water,” “Case in Point,” “Case Study,” and “Case of the Missing Person.”

I hope everyone has a case of easy poeming today!

 

 What has been will be again,
    what has been done will be done again;
    there is nothing new under the sun.

Eccles.1:9

 

 

…in case you wonder if you’re the only one?

There is nothing, nothing new under the sun

Everything new is but the jaded roar

Of everything said and done before

On time-tried ways to growing old

There is nothing new for us to behold

Still, aren’t you glad there will always be

The wonderful bliss of discovery?

Sometimes for a time, we feel quite set apart

As we weather the weather that weathers the heart

Then, when we wonder if this has been said, felt or done

Remember, there is nothing new under the sun

© Janet Martin