Of Time We Have

Aha, it’s true; we have not always turned the other cheek

And kicked, rather than stooped to help the cast down or the weak

We’ve hurled stones; guilty then of equal or the greater sin

Ah, and we have failed to be kind; oh, where shall I begin

So then it seems to me we all are kindred sister-brother

And none has any merit save to simply love each other

Lest while we point out dust-flecks in a fellow-trav’ler’s eye

We miss the beam protruding from our forehead; my, oh, my

I wish we would remember when our fickle tempers flare

How much we need each other to be kind, and simply care

For in this journey forward not into but through the grave

We have so little time to make the most of time we have

© Janet Martin

Till Ties Are Loosed

 A weekend with fresh awareness of so much to be thankful for.
Esp. 54 years, by the grace of God!
 These heartstrings were tugged every which way but loose this weekend...

Lots of birthday wishes, Facetime tugs, long warm hugs, (how I missed them!!)

treated to first meal I have not cooked since Covid-19 social distancing,

(thank-you Emily. Birthday supper was Delicious!!))

Sunday drive and a picnic by the lake (my birthday gift from Jim)

(and it was a sacrifice because he drives and eats out of a lunchbox all week)

Grand-child joy, second to none!

 Side-by-side sister chat by a camp-fire💗

 My, oh my, how Covid-19's social distancing has sweetened family-ties!

these ties that try and bind and loose

can be an anchor or a noose

they test the best of us in ways

that vexes acumen of gaze

yet stirs us to the utter core

with so much to be thankful for

...and oftentimes loss will remind

us to be more gracious and kind

and count the blessings love employs 

where hope refurbishes life's joys

and showers us from mercy's store

with so much to be thankful for

God intercedes on our behalf

and grants compassion's autograph

in ways we cannot comprehend

where flowers bloom and fruit trees bend

and we are humbled o'er and o'er

with so much to be thankful for 

these ties from God to where we are

do not reveal how near or far

we are from that most sacred bar

that tips the last grain from Time's jar

and spills into forevermore

with so much to be thankful for

...if by His grace we have been saved

through the awful pardon He braved

so through His death mankind may live

and ever, in this old world give

us reason to serve and adore

with so much to be thankful for 

...till ties are loosed and then for aye

without distraction or dismay

How beautiful worship will be

in God's forever family 

As without end his praise will pour

with so much to be thankful for

Janet Martin

When, In All This World...

We are bearing a universal cross.

We mourn for suffering and loss of life the world over, 

due to COVID 19.

Let's face it; we're all family.

How about a great big group prayer-hug?! 

Father in Heaven we adore You

Father in Heaven teach

us to trust You for no one

 is ever out of Your reach

Let faith be our Beacon

when sore tempests roll

Dear Father in Heaven

Let faith in Thee make us whole

In Thy Name we pray,

Amen

 2 Corinthians 1:4
Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, 

that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, 

by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.

When, in all this world of wonder, have we ever felt like this?

Bound by kindred hurt and hunger to love’s hug and tug and kiss

When have we, though still oceans, countries and continents apart

Ever felt this closely knitted; sister-brother, heart-to- heart

When in all this world of trouble have we ever faced as one

The awareness of a bubble floating fragile ‘neath the sun

Where the blue dot we inhabit holds love's means to bridge each rift

(We are all indebted creatures to the Giver of life’s gift)

When in all this world of sorrow have we let love intercede

Pulling to the same tomorrow for a universal need

What gathers us more completely in a world of us and you

Than when we suffer together and then help each other through

© Janet Martin

To My Family and Friends (with my blessing)

PAD Challenge 23: Time for our fourth (but not final) Two for Tuesday of the month! 

Pick one prompt or use both…your choice! 

1. Write a free poem.
2. Write a not free poem.

 Seems everything I dream is part of you...

You have taken (with my blessing)

What I used to call ‘me free time’

You make me feel undeserving

Of love's (often uphill) climb

Strange how we change what we wish for

From footloose and fancy-free

To the best life has to offer

When love turns ‘me’ into ‘we’

Once upon a long-gone freedom

I would dread The To-do List

That was before you and me and

All the love we would have missed

Love fills up life’s cup of laughter

And because not much is free

Love drains all but echoes after

Life turns time to memory

Keep on taking (with my blessing)

The 'me free time' I hear tell of

Because after Us there's nothing

I would rather have than love

© Janet Martin

As long as we love

there will always be

So much to do

and so little time!

We Are Family

 Some provinces in Canada are celebrating Family Day today...

Right here, right now some are laying loved ones to their eternal rest,

their names forever etched only in memories, on their family tree.

If we are part of a family, let's never take it for granted!

Let's love/cherish one another while we can in every way we can!

I love this poem by Edgar A. Guest...

We Are Family...

Of bark-and-bite

And hold-me-tight

Of learning while we teach

Hearts over flow

While arms let go

Where yearning kindles reach

And happiness

Is made of mess

And mess is made by we

Who, humbly blessed

Have known life’s best

For we are family

Love’s ecstasy

And agony

Its fireballs deploy

We scale and dredge

The height and depth

Of both sorrow and joy

Where push and pull

Cannot annul

Blood-lined affinity

Nor winds nor sea

Uproot this tree

For we are family

The Hand that weaves

The limbs and leaves

We trace back to our roots

Designs the vines

With quirks and lines

Unique to its own fruit

Where why we are

The way we are

Would be easy to see

If you had known

Great Uncle John

Well… we are family

Where our nose

Or gait exposes

More than we may guess

And old photos

Might startles those

Who look past formal dress

To recognize

In stance or eyes

Familiarity

As we embrace

The names we trace

That makes us family

Then live-laugh-love

And kiss-hold-hug

The touch of Time is brief

Where far too soon

Death snuffs the croon

And flutter of the leaf

To take its place

Where fingers trace

The phantom filigree

That brings us to

The me-and-you

And makes us family

© Janet Martin

The Stick-Together Families

By Edgar Guest

The stick-together families are happier by far
Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,
And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way,
Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam,
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home.
That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray
they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away,
But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,
Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;
It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give;
There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live.
And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win,
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-stick-together-families-by-edgar-albert-guest

(some of my family members are trying to decide
if they could quickly 'ease' through mother's flower-garden with a load of wood...)
Yup!

 When you have the name Grandson no bowl is off-limits!

 

The Stick-Together Families

By Edgar Guest

The stick-together families are happier by far
Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,
And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way,
Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam,
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home.
That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray
they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away,
But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,
Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;
It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give;
There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live.
And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win,
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-stick-together-families-by-e

The Stick-Together Families

By Edgar Guest

The stick-together families are happier by far
Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.

There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,
And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way,
Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.

There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam,
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home.
That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray
they waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away,
But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,
Are the brothers and the sisters who together share their fun.

It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;
It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give;
There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live.
And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win,
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.

Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-stick-together-families-by-edgar-albert-guest