(Because) We Never Know From Day to Day...

Job 14:1-2

Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow, he does not endure.

We are a community in mourning

after a tragic traffic accident

Death has a way of re-reminding us 

to look our beloved families, neighbors and friends in the eye

and love them like we were on borrowed time!

We never know from day to day what will unfold of joy or grief

Life grants no guarantees but one; death an ineludible Chief

'Man born of woman’s, days are few and full of trouble', we are told

We never know who will be next to slip beyond our feeble hold

The best that we can do is live and love as if today could be

The day of lasts before we step from time into eternity

We never know when joys we often take for granted will conclude

How kinder we would be, how gentler, humbler our attitude/gratitude

The best that we can do is trust the Giver as the Taker too

And not demand an explanation when a numbered day comes due

The best that we can do is make the most of Opportunity

Because we never know from day to day, what waits to be

© Janet Martin

Unequivocal Eclipse

 Today's poem-a-day challenge from Robert Lee Brewer @ Writer's Digest

For today's prompt, write a major event poem.

A spectacular start to Eclipse Day...

Today bears an air of excited anticipation/expectation

for what has been dubbed a once in a lifetime celestial event!

A total solar eclipse!

Many have made much ado about this rare event!

Imagine if with similar excitement,  we anticipated and prepared for

Another Once in a 'lifetime' Celestial Event!

Rev.1:7

Behold, He is coming with the clouds, 

and every eye will see Him—

even those who pierced Him. 

And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. 

So shall it be! 

Amen.

(Today's poem can be read as one

or as five poem-lets)

To open my eyes to a front row seat

To goodness and mercy is no small fete

To want nothing dearer that God's Hand stayed

And to rejoice in this day He has made

To live in the moment before it is spent

Makes every Today a major event

***

To feast on the favors/flavors of hope and cheer

And savor the sparkle of Now and Here 

Before Today's Slice within reach becomes

A gaping impression of scattered crumbs

Ah, nothing and no one can capture time spent

Thus, every day is a major event 

***

The would-have and should have of yesterday lie

Like strewn husks beneath Today's beaming sky

Tomorrow's illusions may never unfold

Today's vault gleams with priceless moment-gold

Let's make the most of its measure soon spent

And treasure Today; a major event 

***

How lovely the laughter that dries the tear

How brief each leaf in the sheaf of a year

How hardly it seems daybreak spills hope's hues

Before darkly muffled by dusk's adieus  

How dearly then, before Today is spent

We should be tuned to its Major Event 

***

Each day is like a stepping stone; someday

God will reach down and brush them all away

Someday, each knee will bow, each tongue proclaim

That He is God; holy, holy, His Name 

Someday Unequivocal Evidence

Will eclipse all previous major events

Janet Martin

There's an old quote something like this;

For the believer, this world is as bad as it will get.

For the unbeliever, this world is as good as it will get!

What a (Glorious) Day That Will Be (for the Believer)

How hardly it seems daybreak spills hope's hues

Before darkly muffled by dusk's adieus  

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...

God's Smuggler

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

A Love Beyond Compare

One of my Sunday School students presented this artwork to me yesterday;

a picture she drew (with permission😇) while listening to the lesson!

I love my class of smart, beautiful, eager, full-of-potential school-girls!

Thank-you K.S.

My earnest prayer for all our Sunday School students,

is that the Holy Spirit would begin to waken and nurture,

as we gather weekly, (and as weeks turn into years,)

not just a belief in God but a love for God.

That they would get more than an education in Bible stories and facts,

but that the plan and gift of salvation would begin to unfold

a lifelong awe, reverence and wonder for God's love and grace!

Will you join me in praying too?!

They are little for such a very little time!

I also pray that we, their teachers, parents and grandparents 

live pure and humble testimonies

of genuine love for the Saviour of our souls

and the Lord of our lives!

***

Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works, 

and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

***

Let's live love over and above

What Duty delegates

Let's love God, wonderfully awed

By His goodness and grace

Let's live aware of eyes that care-

fully watch every move 

Where actions shout and leave no doubt

About who we most love

Let's live a life of joy, not strife

Let's pay most earnest heed

To what we sow, because we know

Soon fruit follows the seed 

Soon innocence will climb time's fence

And leave childhood behind

Let's live love over and above

With every child in mind 

Before the heart grows hard, let's start

To plant, with tender care

Awareness of God's wondrous love:

A love beyond compare 

Janet~

Ephesians 5:1-2

 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 

 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,

 a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Through the Means of Today

"That our sanctification did not depend upon changing

our works, but, in doing that for God's sake which we commonly do for our own.

That it was lamentable to see how many people mistook the means for the end,

addicting themselves to certain works which they performed

very imperfectly, by reason of their human or selfish regards...."

Above excerpt from The Practice of the Presence of God

by Brother Lawrence

We ought to pay close heed

To dawn’s gift on display

Because of where its moments lead

Through the means of Today...

Some folk I have outlived

And some will outlive me

Through the means of Today, a gift

God grants mortality

The tally of the sum

Of Today-shadows cast

Are like flickers that will become

My life, when life is passed

The breath that holds the soul

At bay, someday will cease

The means of getting to the goal

Will expire its lease

We ought to pay close heed

To dawn’s gift on display

Because of where its moments lead

Through the means of Today

The means is not the end

The ‘seen’ will soon be through

Let’s live as if Today could rend

The veil between the two

…where there is no release

To what none can outlive;

The end begins what cannot cease

And God alone can give

Oh, pray we bear in mind

Far more than dust of clay

In grave-strewn worlds soon left behind

Through the means of Today

© Janet Martin

Ps.107:8-9

Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
 For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.

Sharing some morning robin and finch cheeriness!

(in between traffic noise!)

Building For Eternity-New Heights Quartet

The Great Redeemer

New Month's Resolutions

 Happy, happy March! (already?!!)

This winter is flying by and hardly feeling like 'real' winter

with its milder temperatures and lack of snow!

Although last evening wasn't mild!

I almost froze my fingers to get these sunset poses!!!

I had to miss the magnificent, pink finale because I needed to go back inside to thaw my hands!

Note to self: never assume to be fine without mittens no matter how mild a few days earlier was!

May we make today more cheerful by being thankful and kind

And by keeping thought life gentle with fellowman's needs in mind

May we not be blind to beauty's wonder-thund'ring treasure trove

But embrace life's common duties with a glad and grateful love

Pray the Lord's goodness will fill us with joy bursting at the core

Rather than highlights that thrill us then leave us thirsting for more

Pray love’s meek and quiet spirit shields us from frontlines of strife

From lust of the flesh and eye, and dust to dust’s vain pride of life

Behold! each moment-memento brims with opportunity

May we delight in the tempo tuning Today’s symphony

For, sufficient for each hour is God’s glorious grace unfurled

Ah! Nothing can overpower He who overcame the world

May we make today more lovely by the way that we reply

To the Giver; not rude-grumbly, but with humble ‘here am I’

As creation spills our ears full, as dawn sets yon heights ablaze

May we make today more cheerful by joining its hymn of praise

For soon high's noon's full bloom flounders; soon plush petal-mettle yields

To the tug that always counters today with tomorrow's fields

So, before today is gathered into Bygone's works of art

May its moments as they scatter leave a smile in someone's heart

© Janet Martin

Ps.92:4-8

For You, O LORD, have made me glad by Your deeds;

I sing for joy at the works of Your hands.

5How great are Your works, O LORD,

how deep are Your thoughts!

6A senseless man does not know,

and a fool does not understand,

7that though the wicked sprout like grass,

and all evildoers flourish,

they will be forever destroyed.

8But You, O LORD, are exalted forever!

Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

For Your Name's Sake (some sonnets)

You drape the dell with scarves of silver tulle...

You carve the curving course of brook-song hue...

...the earth is full Of the glorious handiwork of You

You drape the dell with scarves of silver tulle

You carve the curving course of brook-song hue

That shimmers out to sea; the earth is full

Of the glorious handiwork of You

You fill and whet the seed that leaps to life

Fruit and flower reply; ah, who are we

That we should doubt Your ways while earth runs rife

With Your mercy, glory and majesty

You stir within the human heart a sense

Of holiness and power undeterred

A Culmination, awesome and immense

That eye has not yet seen nor ear yet heard

Oh Lord, let no path I pursue or take

Be for a lesser cause than Your name’s sake

***

Ps.23:3

...he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

***

You wake and rouse the earth from winter’s clutch

With ways we love and have come to expect

With daffodils and robin trills and such

With plumes and blooms sun-kisses resurrect

You tune four-season’s steadfast carousels

Sun, moon and stars their ordained circuits stay

And never stray; not one planet rebels

Your perfect law and order they obey

Nothing and no one can usurp Your will

Ancient oracles have not slipped your ken

Heaven and earth will not pass away till

Each jot and tittle is fulfilled. Amen

Behold! where autumn’s auburn petals fell

Springtime’s unfailing hallelujahs swell

***

Ps.24:1

The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof;

***

The earth is Yours, and its fulness thereof

The greedy forget this and want for more

Than Your goodness, mercy, kindness and love

Offering wealth that pales this world’s brief store 

Your righteousness and truth are of great price

The wise covet its fortune earnestly

Striving to be a living sacrifice

Lest worship be a show of vanity

You rend the dark; cut mercy’s legions loose

You bend heavens and earth with evidence

Of You; thus, we are all without excuse

When it comes to devotion’s recompense

Dear Lord, whatever life may bring our way

Help us endeavor to trust and obey

***

Ps.103:8

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

***

Compassionate and slow to anger, You

Withhold judgment, but not forever, oh

Someday total accounting will come due

Pity the one who heard You and said 'no'  

You, who held nothing back but gave Yourself

Because salvation has no other name

Pity the one who prizes prideful pelf

Above the love that robs death/hell of its claim

Time's four-season circuit spins round and round

Some sense its sacred toll, some scoff and sneer

But someday Time's Veneer will run aground 

And all earth's tribes will mourn with holy fear

Then, hope and grace and faith will be no more

When who we chose to serve settles the score 

© Janet Martin

***

Matt.24:30

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 

and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, 

and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven 

with power and great glory.

***

Behold! where autumn’s auburn petals fell...

Springtime’s unfailing hallelujahs swell

In All That We Achieve...

 Inspired, in part by a paragraph from this book previously mentioned here

In all that we achieve today, however common its demand

If we approach its come-what-may, with willing heart and open hand

And humble consciousness of holy ground beneath each step we take

Aware of how footfalls compound to leave a pathway in its wake

Then we will not forget to ask, ‘Dear God to purify each quest’

And we will find within each task an impetus to do our best

And face each challenge that we meet with more than self- int’rest in mind

Because, a world of little feet, are following not far behind

Where it is up to us to show, without a shadow of a doubt

Through ups and downs of yes-and-no, Who, what we do is all about

So pray, in all that we achieve, as aftermath of pathways wend

In sacred steppingstones we leave/weave, they lead to Heaven in the end

© Janet Martin

Ps.119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet 

And a light to my path.

Today's part-inspiration!

below continued from above...

I love how the paragraph below is a metaphor for life!

 

On Living In The Moment

Look! morning’s epic entrance thunders with moments we’ve never met...

Because God is without beginning or end,

there will be no end to goodness!

Sometimes I am guilty of forgetting this,

 falling prey to doleful dread, 

believing the good days are over for good 

rather than finding the good in each day,

and thanking God for it by honoring Him with it

 in every way I can!

Ps.31:19 

(click reference link to read the whole glorious Psalm)

How great is Your goodness

which You have laid up for those who fear You,

which You have bestowed before the sons of men

on those who take refuge in You!

I do not want to stare too long at sanguine scenes in Bygone’s glade

Nor covet echoes of a song, much softer now than when first played

Lord, give me ears to hear What Is before its music disappears

Open my eyes so I don’t miss the font that soon fills yesteryears

Beneath the hand of Time harsh sorrows and raw edges smooth, it seems

Washed by a tide, primed with tomorrows, rolling through a world of dreams

Darling, ere you and I awaken on the other side of This

Let’s be sweetly and humbly taken by the melody that is

For, far too soon Bygone’s infinite isle will claim tunes turned to mist

So, let’s not waste one precious minute while today's lyrics untwist  

Look! morning’s epic entrance thunders with moments we’ve never met

Oh, let’s not grow too old to wonder at mercies not tasted yet

© Janet Martin

Oh, let’s not grow too old to wonder at mercies not tasted yet...

Dawn's eyelids were heavy with snow-shadows!

It's been a while since Old Man Winter

 lugged out his white-wash bucket and tipped it over the earth...

I almost have First Snowfall thrills!

Goodness of God

This Life Is Full of Lovely Things (in a much-amiss world)

To sun-rise starved Southern Ontarion-ers this morning's stunner

was like a sweet elixir to the soul!

Beneath a rush of blushing wings

A fresh start is unfurled...

This life is filled with lovely things

The fresh start that each new day brings

As dawn unfolds translucent wings

Where God prolongs Time’s grace

Child’s laughter to set hearts aglow

Gardens asleep beneath the snow

Waiting for spring to steal the show

As bud-looms burst with lace

This life is filled with countless joys

Mischievous pups and little boys

The beauty each season deploys

To leave us humbly awed

With handiwork by God designed

Then etched, splashed, pearled, swirled and entwined

Like surprises we thrill to find

On sky and sea and sod

This life is filled with wondrous ways

God wills and grants to gladden days

And turn would-be lament to praise

And weight of want to love

Where learning’s tattered lesson-book

Is brightened by bird-song, a brook

And God-ness, everywhere we look

(If we look long enough)

…where life is full of you and me

And Today’s opportunity

A hand to hold, a friend to be

A tender word to cheer

Each other on, through ups and downs

To be part of the art that crowns

The heart and face with smiles, as frowns

That would-be, disappear

This life, filled with mercies renewed

As morning rends night’s tent, star-strewed

Kindles courage with gratitude

In a much-amiss world

Where life is full of lovely things

To counter cares it surely brings

Beneath dawn's rush of blushing wings

A fresh start is unfurled

© Janet Martin

It was impossible to capture the full scale of the magnitude of the sunrise with

a camera lens. Its colors ran north and south without bound!

I began today's poem yesterday morning before Duty prevailed...

I wonder what yesterday's poem would have been??😅

Yesterday afternoon I was treated to this 'bird-song'

from a treetop symphony!

Before I finished 'yesterday's' poem this morning,

the wonderful Psalm below from today's devotion

began Today with utter loveliness!!

Ps. 130

Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord;

2 Lord, hear my voice!

Let Your ears be attentive

To the voice of my supplications.

3 If You, Lord, should [a]mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

4 But there is forgiveness with You,

That You may be feared.

5 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

And in His word I do hope.

6 My soul waits for the Lord

More than those who watch for the morning—

Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.

7 O Israel, hope in the Lord;

For with the Lord there is mercy,

And with Him is abundant redemption.

8 And He shall redeem Israel

From all his iniquities.

Yesterday's poem-kindling...