Interknit Duos...

 

Dawn sweeps the sands of Time

Beneath the starry deep

where duo of hope-love sublime

Extends God's faithful keep 

God is love and love is God, thus He instills in us His law

Birthing conflict; human-nature struggles because of sin’s flaw

Hope is love and love is hope; heaven's draw-bridge to sands of Time

Hope without God's love is hollow, like a bell without a chime

Joy and grief’s intrinsic marriage groans; love’s tears and laughter pour

While farewell, like a dark carriage parks its hearse outside each door

And we could not bear to suffer the appointments of this world

Without Hope and Love to buffer us against hurt’s shards unfurled

Without love and hope we wallow like a helpless, drowning man

Futile, all the fears we swallow without Faith’s faithful I AM

Hope secures love’s groaning lifeline while the storm with Sailor spars

Nay, God's love secures hope’s lifeline with a hand that bears love’s scars

© Janet Martin

Lyrics for
Jesus, Saviour, Pilot Me

Jesus, Saviour, pilot me
Over life's tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treach'rous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee.
Jesus, Saviour, pilot me.

 

 

As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boist'rous waves obey Thy will
When Thou sayest to them, "Be still!"
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus, Saviour, pilot me.

 

 

When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
'Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
"Fear not, I will pilot thee."

The Tender Risk

 This morning I had in my inbox a poem written by my niece

for a history assignment;

a strong piece of writing in Reverse Poem and well done!

It tempted me to attempt this form I had long forgotten.

In much shorter version.

 (also forgot how challenging it is;

the trick to keep one line flowing

into the next...)

So much to celebrate… and grieve

With what we suffer to achieve

And weave love’s longing, bittersweet

As hunger and fullness compete

To penetrate with piercing ploy

The climax of sorrow with joy

To fragmentalize and finesse

The highs and lows of happiness

Where what we have and hold is but

Slow loss that waits to sheer and gut

The heart that dares to trust enough

To take the tender risk to love

Again

© Janet Martin

Again

To take the tender risk to love

The heart that dares to trust enough

Slow loss that waits to sheer and gut

Where what we have and hold is but

The highs and lows of Happiness

To fragmentalize and finesse

The climax of sorrow with joy

To penetrate with piercing ploy

As hunger and fullness compete

And weave love’s longing bittersweet

With what we suffer to achieve

So much to celebrate… and grieve

© Janet Martin

 Even in laughter the heart may ache, 

and rejoicing may end in grief.

Poverbs 14:13

Tick-tock's Undertow

It's quiet save the sound of the clock's tick-tock!

 Sometimes we wish for more 'bloom' as it fades

until we mourn the loss of one who never got the chance to fully fade or even begin to fade!

 Tonight the ache of mourning is raw as we enfold a widow in our congregation

in tears and prayer...

We miss you, Ron

Growing old does not stop

Until God wills it so

The momentum of tick and tock

A profound undertow

Where choice and circumstance

Adeptly intertwines

As we grapple with what God grants

While youth its bloom resigns

To make each moment count

Is more than a cliché

They are the sparkles from a fount

That never hits replay

Therefore we ought to prize

The gift of growing old

And kindly, humbly recognize

Time slipping through our hold

The ache for those we love

Who have gone on before

Keens a scared awareness of

What was and is no more

Where, as the seasons pass

We come to realize

How swift the sand runs through the glass

That drains the fountain dry

Dear Lord, bless those who mourn

For friend or family

Lord, heal the heart broken and torn

By sorrow’s agony

Awake in us hope’s boast

As by your grace we go

And teach us how to make the most

Of tick-tock’s undertow

© Janet Martin

 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, 

for He who promised is faithful.

Heb.10:23

Life Goes On

A few weeks ago we attended the wedding of my neice.

 She married our lifelong neighbour's son!

At the wedding hubby and I chatted for a little while with the groom's uncle
 (age 63) who moved to Manitoba years ago and raised his family there.

He encouraged me to make/take the time to go with Jim/hubby sometimes
because we just never know what life can bring.
Since that conversation 3+ weeks ago Jim has met him completely unexpectedly (twice!)
as he drove through Manitoba.
Suddenly a truck pulled alongside his truck and a man with a friendly smile
and honk waved as he went by. It was Ken Weber!

Yesterday he passed away suddenly due to a heart attack!

A few days ago a this community was rocked by the death of a young woman
 killed in an awful traffic accident, leaving us asking,
(after coming through a sorrow-stricken October)

 who/what next?!!

 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,

 so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again,

we also believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him.…

1 Thess. 4:13-14 

This song was played the other Sunday for our 'hurting bad' church family

as we mourn the sudden loss of a few of its members...

because, life goes on!

Life goes on

The holes where loss

Leaves gaping wounds

Ah, who can fill?

Where Death

(That Ruthless Random Beast)

With precise aim

Is never still

Life goes on:

Worlds rocked anew

With Grief’s insistent

Unforeseen

Where all we knew

Cannot return

To be the way

That it had been

Death’s sickle swings

Ah, who is next

To fall beneath its

Binding blade

Where love, ah love

Will suffer long

The aftermath

Of parting’s trade

Where life goes on

In spite of Death

(Though much is taken

Much remains)

To stir our hearts

And steal our Breath

As Hope in God

Alone sustains

Life goes on;

It eddies, swirls

Where love and sorrow

Ache and brim

As love of God

Kindly consoles

And fills the holes

With hope in Him

© Janet Martin