Showing posts with label Queen Elizabeth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queen Elizabeth. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

Common Wealth

Through the majestic arches of Westminster Abbey
rang words of everlasting truth and hope, not just for those attending Her Majesty,
the late Queen Elizabeth II's funeral but for everyone in all walks of life
Hallelujah! 


A few powerful pointers and reminders to take with us!
"The pattern for many leaders is to be exalted in life and forgotten after death.
The pattern for all who serve God, famous or obscure, respected or ignored,
Is that death is the door to glory…

…People of loving service are rare in any walk of life.
Leaders of loving service are still rarer.
But in all cases, those who serve will be loved and remembered while those who cling
To power and privileges are long forgotten.

Her late Majesty’s broadcast during covid lockdown ended with ‘we will meet again’!
Christian hope means certain expectation of something not yet seen.
Christ rose from the dead and offers life to all. Abundant life now and life with God in eternity....

...As the Christmas carol says, ‘where meek souls will receive Him still the dear Christ enters in.
We will all face the merciful judgement of God. 
We can all share the Queen’s hope which in life and death 
inspired her servant leadership. Service in life. Hope in death. 
All who follow the Queen’s example and inspiration of trust and faith in God
 can with her say, ‘we will meet again’."

Archbishop of Canterbury-The Most Reverend Justin Welby


His Closing Prayers
Heavenly father, kings of kings, Lord and Giver of life,
who, of Thy grace in creation didst form mankind in thine own image, 
and in Thy great love offerest us life eternal in Christ Jesus.
Claiming the promises of Thy most blessed Son,
we entrust the soul of our sister Elizabeth, here departed, to Thy merciful keeping
In sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life
when Christ shall be all in all, who died and rose again to save us,
and now liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit in glory forever.
Amen.

Go forth oh Christian soul in this world.
 In the name of God, the Father Almighty who created Thee.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Son of the living God who suffered for thee, 
In the name of the Holy Spirit who was poured out upon thee 
and anointed thee in communion with all the blessed saints 
and aided by the angels and archangels and all the armies of the heavenly hosts.,
May thy portion this day be in peace 
and thy dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem.
Amen.


***

Life's charge of duty and demand
Bestows a grand decree
The onus of time's sifted sand
Accountability

The common wealth of shoes to fill
Anoints the common blessed
As we march to Dues beat and drill
Until eternal rest

We, subjects of the King of kings
Each have a sacred role
Until death's doleful belfry rings
With summons of the soul

Each morn time's runway is unfurled
A hallowed thing to see
Poured through the fanfare of this world
Into eternity

How solemn is the chartered span
Of moments in the sun
Where soon the numbered days of man
Are snuffed like stars at dawn

How holy is the beckoning
Until God's final call
How surely is the reckoning
That waits for one and all

How worth this while, the hurt and hope
Of serving faithfully
Because, beyond earth's grave-strewn slope
How sweet Heaven will be
 
© Janet Martin

The precious portion of Scripture below was also read...

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, 
and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, 
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory.
55 O death, where is thy sting? 
O grave, where is thy victory?
56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, 
always abounding in the work of the Lord, 
forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

'Life goes on' I said to my sister yesterday
as we texted while watching the funeral
midst many interruptions...
for me-

harvesting tomatoes

emptying mousetraps-ugh!!


...and all ultimately for the Lord!


Monday, September 19, 2022

The Lily Blooms Again

 

Inspired by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II

A few precious passages, familiar to believers
warmed, comforted and exhorted we who remain...

Psalm 103:13-18
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14 for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.
15 The life of mortals is like grass,
they flourish like a flower of the field;
16 the wind blows over it and it is gone,
and its place remembers it no more.
17 But from everlasting to everlasting
the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children—
18 with those who keep his covenant
and remember to obey his precepts.

Rev. 21:1-4
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
 and there was no longer any sea. 
2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 
prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
 “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. 
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 
4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. 
There will be no more death’[b
or mourning or crying or pain, 
for the old order of things has passed away.”

So many moving images...







The Lily’s bloom is shed
Her crown of glory spent
The scepter falls, as silver thread
Of mortal breath is rent

The Lily’s splendor lies
In funereal repose
Her final flight escapes the eyes
Fixed on life’s curtain-close

The Lily’s beauty bows
Beneath the Hand of He
Whose law is love, whose kingdom flows
Throughout eternity

The Lily’s stem is shorn
Though petals deck the sod
Her darling, deathless Bud is borne
Back to the arms of God

So, though we mourn the loss
Of touch, of sight and sound
The Lily sheds the albatross
Of glory, sorrow-crowned

Where tears will never fall
Where flowers never fade
No roses strewn in farewell’s thrall
As dust to dust is laid

The Lily is not dead
But fairer now than then
In the presence of God instead
The Lily blooms again

© Janet Martin

In memory of Queen Elizabeth II, with love














Monday, September 12, 2022

A Royal Opportunity

 

(photo in the public domain)


A few comments from King Charles III's proclamation speeches;
‘I shall strive to follow the inspiring example that has been set…’
‘Even as we grieve, we give thanks for her life well lived’

We have a royal opportunity to have something in common with Queen Elizabeth;
Through faith in Jesus Christ, to set an inspiring example
 and to leave behind a life well lived
to honour the King of kings and Lord of lords

 The family of believers in Jesus,
 is the greatest royal family of all!
Everyone is welcome🙏

John 3:16-17 NIV
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, 
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, 
but to save the world through him.

***

Far more than merely moments spring from time’s volatile fount
Where life runs rife with choices for which we will give account
As step by step and day by day we all advance toward
Last Breath, when this world slips away and we will meet the Lord

What earnest heed we ought to give to what we do and say
Between the past and future, we live always in Today
Where no one knows how near or far its final grant will be
Or when the person that we are becomes A Memory

The common ground of opportunity is made of dirt
A momentous velocity of happiness and hurt
Where we all share the common need, however rich or poor
Of faith in Jesus Christ; He alone keeps the soul secure

This is the day the Lord has made; oh, will it be our last?
Not all will see its shadow laid to rest in ages past
Lord, help us live as if today could be the steppingstone
To that which never fades away, when life on earth is done

© Janet Martin

Col.1:9-13
For this reason, since the day we heard about you,
 we have not stopped praying for you 
and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will 
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 
10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
 and may please Him in every way: 
bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
  11being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might 
so that you may have full endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, 
who has qualified youc to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness 
and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, 
14in whom we have redemption,
d the forgiveness of sins.







Thursday, September 8, 2022

Of Common and Sacred Sureness

Update: When I wrote today's poem I didn't dream that this would mark the day of

No matter how we get there,
we sacredly and surely all will!








(and so nice to have helping hands along the way!)



One thing we have in common
No matter who we are
A sure and sacred summons
Will fling a Door ajar
That leads into a portal
Where Time will cease to be
From mortal to immortal
For all eternity

Farewell to all comparing
Where we dwell side by side
The tent of our bearing
The means of our ride
However high or lowly
Of sky and land and sea
All are bound for the holy
Gate of eternity

Ferrari, Lamborghini,
Bike, airplane, mule and cart
The wheels to infinity
Is not the crucial part
The mode of transportation
In death, disintegrates
When the God of salvation
Parts eternity’s gates

This world’s clutter and clatter
Is the fleeting façade
Of a most sacred matter
‘Prepare to meet Thy God’
For He alone is waiting
Where time no more will be
No more doubt or debating
For all eternity

…where what we have in common
Is Time’s sure curtain- close
Who next will hear death’s summons
Only life’s Giver knows
As Last Breath dooms or frees us 
Pray, which one will it be
Either Satan or Jesus
For all eternity

© Janet Martin

Mark 16:16
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, 
but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

Revelation 14:7
And he said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give Him glory,
 because the hour of His judgment has come.
 Worship the One who made the heavens and the earth 
and the sea and the springs of waters."

Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? 
For You alone are holy. 
All nations will come and worship before You, 
for Your righteous acts have been revealed."

Heb.2:1-4
Therefore we must give [a]the more earnest heed
 to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.
 2For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, 
and every transgression and disobedience received a just [b]reward, 
3how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, 
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, 
and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,
 4God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders,
 with various miracles, and gifts[c] of the Holy Spirit, 
according to His own will?




Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Faithful to the End


 


I am still enjoying a beautiful bouquet given to me a week ago 
after helping at the funeral of  the oldest member in our church family.
 She would have turned 100 years old in July!
Listening to all the heartwarming memories and tributes
was so inspiring and encouraging to we still in the process of 
creating legacies not yet left behind.

Below is the photo released of Queen Elizabeth II 
on her 96th birthday on Thurs. April 21, 2022

 
We cherish her example of faithfulness as well!
 Both of these women
live/lived through an incredible almost-century of progress, 
and tremendous challenges and change
with unwavering faith!

 “For me the teachings of Christ 
and my own personal accountability before God 
provide a framework in which I try to lead my life.”
~Queen Elizabeth~
 
Oh, that we would also be able to leave behind a lifetime legacy, 
not of perfection but of courageous faithfulness to the end,
of 'remembering our own personal accountability before God'
so as we leave we may rejoice in this triumphant farewell...

I have fought the good fight, 
I have finished the race, 
I have kept the faith.


It’s not in how we start but how we end that we achieve
The climax of commitment and the legacy we leave
A few good turns are not enough to earn triumph secured
Or prove the love and faithfulness of the good fight endured

Success and happiness are not always as they appear
Where opulence and pleasure can produce a false veneer
Desire keens the catalyst of longings that will prove
Where we fix our eyes; on things below or things above

Life’s ups and downs that test and try will refine or destroy
Not for the faint of heart is faith fixed on immortal joy
Where faithful to the end God’s promises accompany
Where faithful to the end He bids His followers to be

…thus, breath by breath and step by step and prayer by prayer we go
Faithfulness takes a lifetime its fulfillment to bestow
We cannot rush or fool the proof wrought by life’s highs and lows
Where faithfulness suffers love's thorns with eyes upon The Rose

© Janet Martin