Of Fellow and Fallen Soldiers

 While we drove yesterday, little Miss Three-and-a-half named everything she saw

..."I see a house, a field, a tree etc...

then in a sudden change of tone I heard her say,

"I see a lot of soldiers. Bye soldiers. We miss you"

I looked; we were passing a graveyard.

Something in her 3yr.old mind equated graves with fallen soldiers!

Fitting, isn't it? Life gives all its 'soldiers' battles to fight, some public, some private.

...and on this note happy, happy first day of December! 😀

We smile, groan, gasp and grasp the hands

Of fellow-soldiers, for we know

Alone we fall, allied we stand

As sands of seasons ebb and flow

The tender love that drives us on

Wreaks havoc, oft where none can see

For ‘nothing new under the sun’

Is often new to you and me

This skin we wear is sure to show

If given time enough, war-scars

They come with hold and letting go

And tasting salty sorrow-stars

We charge beneath the glist’ring sun

And wade through tides of morn to night

Battalion dependent on

Life's Chief Captain for strength and light

…and on we forge through gorge and bog

Where past and future briefly merge

To shape the battlefields agog

With living’s temp’ramental splurge

Before that somber meeting place

When one among our numbers falls

And leaves this force of hope and grace

In response to the Captain’s call

An Ultimate we all will brave

Where dust-to dust is bittersweet

Memorialized around a grave

That marks the resting place for feet

…as The Great Mystery within

Embarks where feet have never trod

When mortal steps out of its skin

And returns to life's Giver;  God

© Janet Martin

In Memory of Gordon James Pringle 

The Armor of God 

Eph.6:10-18

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.  

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can make your stand against the devil’s schemes.  

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, 

against the powers of this world’s darkness, 

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Therefore take up the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, 

you will be able to stand your ground, and having done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth fastened around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness arrayed,

and with your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, 

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. 

To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.

Of Bard and Battleground...

The battleground where wars are waged that only One can see

Can make or break the strongest bard in unformed poesy

The tear that never dims the eye, but burns the midnight oil

Slays legions only thought descries as enemies recoil

The sword where faith and hope takes wing would falter in despair

If want were satisfied with things and fate our only prayer

But peace and joy their gifts employ in kind simplicity

Its Giver helps us to destroy thought’s evil enemy

The rogues that bully branch and bush in winter-wild torment

Recruit allies to crush the soul in bitter, vile dissent

But, though the elements unleash their raging escadrille

Thought proves where its allegiance lies when battle-cries are still

The bard must bear, unlike the rest uncommon agonies

Sometimes the air cannot attest to heart-intricacies

Word-thirsty battle-cries reverberate without a sound

Where bard and pen must mitigate thought’s brutal battleground

© Janet Martin

Of Hallmarks and Honor

No one but God beholds the field

Where our keen wars are fought

The clash of wrong and right concealed

On battlegrounds of thought

No fellow-soldier cheers us on

Though skirmishes are rough

Our battle is beheld by One

And yet, that is enough

The aftermath of mind-fought wars

Tenders its casualties

Into the crypt of Time before

Immortal victories

No pennants of fair fame applaud

Our fetes fervid and grand

Thought-valor is beheld by God

Our trophy in His hand

For none but He beholds the plain

Where conflicts wage and groan

As demon-enemies are slain

And armies overthrown

The medal of thought-honor gleams

Not from podium or shelf

But as our kind Captain esteems

The battle-ground of self

© Janet Martin

Thank-you Cynthia, for the Old Rugged Cross coaster.

On Winning.....

So you took one on the chin, my boy
An’ you’re tellin’ me this is it
Well, let me tell you one thing, my boy
Before you decide to quit
Life is a hard-fought battle, lad
But this is the sum of it
A quitter never wins, my lad
And a winner will never quit

Winning has nothing to do with the score
On the board at the end of a game
Winning, my boy is so much more
Than a number beside your name
If you give it your very best effort, my boy
Then this is the sum of it
You'll be a winner in life, my boy
For the winner will never quit

Janet~

Okay, guys, so you 'lost'
on Saturday.......
or did you?

Invisible Battlefield

There’s a war that rages daily
With many a battle fought
And it seems that no one really
Understands the foe named ‘thought’
He seems so small and passive
Sometimes he’s good and kind
But his evil can be massive
As war wages in our mind

It’s an invisible battlefield
No allies at our side
As the foe its power wields
We cannot run and hide
But we have a Great Captain
And He alone can see
Each battle and each out-come
Defeat or victory

It’s an invisible battlefield
But we have God’s true Word
We have faith’s invisible shield
We have the Spirit’s sword
The demons, darkness, evil forces
Strive to take control
But they cannot alter courses
With the One who saves our soul

It’s an invisible battlefield
No one to cheer with glee
As evil thoughts and armies yield
To inner victories
For many a tear-stained battle
Upon these plains are fought
With many a plea and many a prayer
Prayed for this foe named ‘thought’

Someday beyond these borders
This battle will be done
As God our foot-steps orders
We’ll fight them one by one
With Him, the foe we’ll conquer
He is a faithful shield
For He is Lord and Master
Of our invisible battlefield

All Rights Reserved
Janet Martin