Showing posts with label integrity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label integrity. Show all posts

Monday, February 5, 2024

When Best Intentions Run Awry


This didn't go as planned!


To Grand sonny's 7 yr. old logic it made perfect sense to take a stick
 and whack the snow and ice out of this little china bird-feeder,
completely unaware that Gramma received it for Christmas
 from a family she did childcare for, 
and who thoughtfully picked out this bird and tea lover's gift .
Gramma, (as she came upon the scene of Grandson 
beating the feeder to bits after 'it was broken anyway' 
and before she heard the explanation that caused 
what appeared to be radical unreason!!) 
did not react as patiently as she should have, ahem!!
And then Gramma apologized for her quick and quite annoyed reaction,
and gave him a little 'explanation' on why she treasured it
and on respecting people's things. 😓😅
Grandsonny was very sorry💔💗
It reminded me of how we all sometimes are part of best intention run amuck.
He was simply going to get rid of the ice😂😇
but, no matter how well-intended the objective
 if, when all is said and done
we leave someone wounded/broken or in retrospect realize
our intentions were misguided,
 we owe repentance and apology to whom it is due
however noble our initial intentions were!
The above episode may seem like a pale example,
but the principle  is the same, 
no matter what the details of the issue.
As we mature we realize even compassion can make mistakes.
Sometimes love can get a bit tangled in that fine line 
between sinner and sin!
Oh God, help us all (Whether leader or laity)
 to be humble enough always, to stand corrected!
Would that we be sorry when we should!
God is faithful to help us pick up the pieces,
and move forward by His grace,
for His glory!

Sometimes our best intentions run awry
The good-we-would misses the mark we sought
And every earnest explanation ‘why’
Cannot suffice to fix the wrong it wrought

Sometimes stumbles can test the ‘humblest’ heart
Surprising Self with startling clarity
When Noble Reason errs, (if but in part)
Wreaking havoc from flawed integrity

Fumbles can foster brutal wake-up calls
With jolts intended to open our eyes
Because no one is above pride’s pitfalls
Or too superior to apologize

Then, sometimes all it takes to get along
Rather than justify the cause so much
Is to say ‘I am sorry, I was wrong’
Then let forgiveness work its healing touch

Sometimes our best intentions run askew
The good-we-would leaves shambles in its wake
And every explanation will not do
Other than owning up to love’s mistake

© Janet Martin

Dear Lord, remind us, rather than stooping to sling stones,
to bow humbled hearts before you in prayer for one another!

John 8:2-11
Now [a]early in the morning He came again into the temple, 
and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 
3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery.
 And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him,
 “Teacher, [b]this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.
 5 Now [c]Moses, in the law, commanded us [d]that such should be stoned. 
But what do You [e]say?” 
6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him.
 But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, [f]as though He did not hear.

7 So when they continued asking Him, He [g]raised Himself up and said to them,
 “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 
9 Then those who heard it, being[h] convicted by their conscience, went out one by one,
 beginning with the oldest even to the last. 
And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 
10 When Jesus had raised Himself up [i]and saw no one but the woman, 
He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers [j]of yours? 
Has no one condemned you?”
11 She said, “No one, Lord.”
And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; 
go [k]and sin no more.”

Monday, October 23, 2023

Of First Glances




If all was as pure as fall-morning's delight when earth is dipped in frost
First glance could indulge its appetite without ever weighing the cost

But Guile preys on First Glance, it seems, to captivate its prey
 Then test the quests that Want esteems with very subtle sway

 For all is not pure as fall-morn's delight, when earth is dipped in frost
Where first glance indulges its appetite without ever weighing the cost




At first glance, Guile seems to tick the right boxes
A fine façade can play tricks on the eye
But oh, my dear, be on guard for sly foxes
Tickling Thought’s tendrils of reason awry

Study the fruit of the tree, trace its branches
Past the entrancing sigh of wind through leaves
Past the impressions offered to first glances
Past the distraction attraction achieves

Guile, though it smiles, is still, just a smooth-talker
Sin, clothed in lamb’s wool does not make it pure
Vice, masquerading as Nice, is a mocker
Tempting gullible first glance with its lure

…that seems at First-Glance to tick the right boxes
Making us second guess That Still Small Voice
Whispering, ‘Oh! be aware of sly foxes
Teasing Thought’s tendrils of reason to Choice

© Janet Martin







When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food 
and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, 
she took some and ate it. 
Gen.3:6

Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, 
our vineyards that are in bloom.
Song of Solomon 2:15



 

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Faith-forge...



This poem is inspired in part by a few stories I recently read or am reading...
the stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and now, Moses!!
Also, the story of George Mueller
(the excerpt below esp.)


Heb.12:1
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,
 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

The beautiful 'cloud of faithful witnesses' that encompass us
 challenge, inspire and encourage
 the ongoing stories of our own lives/faith still being written!
Take heart, fellow-friend!
Stories of faithfulness cannot be written in a hurry!

I began this poem yesterday morning, but it was not a poem
that could be quickly spilled....then tot-care gobbled up the day!

Last night my energy and concentration tank was so completely depleted
to the point of feeling like I was getting sick (but a good night's sleep resolved)
so this is yesterday and today's poem!

Below: a Celebrate-the-Very-Brief-Splash-of-Sunshine-with-a-Hot Chocolate-'Picnic'!



The answers that we seek in our hurry oft seem slow
When faith’s posture is weak, not meek but impatient to know
Doubt and desire wrestle as God tests love’s utmost part
(To be His chosen vessel is not for the faint of heart)

The high call of surrender grants no accolades unearned
Faith’s Author and Perfecter leaves no stumbling block unturned
But moves in ways contrary to sight’s acumen and whim
God’s rebuke necessary to expose wants not of Him

Encompassed by a cloud of witnesses, faith’s legions shine
As God fulfilled/revealed His promises and purposes divine
While waiting-seasons refined trust and taught them to endure
And be obedient because God’s Word is just and pure/sure

What sometimes seems like pleas ignored or forgotten by God
Or futile ‘waiting on the Lord,’ is oft discipline’s rod
To dredge the depth of the heart’s measure where His Word should be
To test the timbre of the treasure only He can see

What masters of disaster mortal’s lack of patience proves
When we choose to move faster than God's higher way behooves
When foolishly we plunder gates still barred to our request
Blind to redemption’s wonder waiting to reveal His best

God's providence instilling/fulfilling holiness, makes no mistakes
He tugs at ties unwilling until pride's resistance breaks 
And probes the hold that still denies Supreme Authority
Until faith's utter boast replies 'not I, but Christ in me'  

© Janet Martin

2 Tim2:3
Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.