Of Certainties

This little day is dawning

A gift from heaven’s throne

We know not what is spawning

Within its vast unknown

But this we know for certain

The Love that lifts night’s veil

Then draws again its curtain

Will never, never fail

We comprehend with dullness

Life’s trouble-twisted path

We cannot grasp the fullness

Of God’s love or His wrath

Yet this we know for certain

That Death is but the Door

And Time, the transient curtain

To God’s forevermore

© Janet Martin

I remember a preacher saying, when I was a child, that if we could ever see the fullness of God’s love we would never question it because it goes beyond anything our minds can comprehend. Then He said, in the same measure, if ever we would see the full wrath of a Holy God we would never seek revenge.

We all will see one or the other in eternity. This is an Immortal certainty.

The Hand That Cups our Tears...

Oh God, if our hearts are broken

Beyond what we can show

Then how much more God, You must hurt

For oh, You love us so

Oh God, how we must hurt You

To blame You for life’s ill

And hate You for the evil fruit

Wrought by a man’s free will

Oh God, we see but glimpses

Of your infinite love

Yet, even in our deepest grief

A glimpse will be enough

When Your Son hung upon the cross

He suffered every grief

Because You loved us so, in spite

Of our unbelief

Oh God, help us to trust You

When we can’t understand

We weep, our tears are gathered

Within Your nail-scarred Hand

© Janet Martin

The tragedy in Connecticut grips a continent! We weep, we pray, we trust. Oh God, comfort the broken.

I didn't want to write right now; Words seemed so small, but Jesus loves the little children, and oh, He loves us all. 

Of Unfettered Shores

 

The heavens hold sun, moon and stars

Earth’s hollows hold its seas

And I hold in my heart of hearts

Love’s surge of memories

I cannot grasp unfathomed deeps

Of vast infinity

Nor cup the ocean as it sweeps

The reefs inside of me

Sometimes the dawn is serene, still

Sometimes its silence roars

As somewhere raging oceans spill

Across unfettered shores

J~

Of Miracles and Majesty

Borne on a Hand eye cannot see

A miracle unfurls

Upon a formless canopy

Above a slumbering world

The Artist spreads His master-piece

Across the silent deep

As miracles of hope increase

And draw us from our sleep

Proof of His grace breathes on the dark

And melts its shroud away

The sojourner beneath embarks

Upon another day

Borne on a Hand we cannot see

A miracle unfurls

As mercy’s glorious majesty

Brings Light unto the world

© Janet Martin

Watching the dawn unfold...

from deep dark nothings

pink, blue and gold 

unfurl

Miraculous Masterpiece...

  

The Habit of Her...

Her robe is threadbare; tattered

Her form is gaunt and bent

And on her cheeks are scattered

The tears of time’s lament

Yon lass of buxom beauty

Has yielded to the breeze

Her portion of life’s duty

A page of memories

…and yet she seems to hasten

Habits die slow and hard

Experienced whispers chasten

The dazed and dream-struck bard

She plucks with purposed candor

In guile-less honesty

Each season of its splendor

Each child upon the knee

Borne on the burnished morning

Benevolent disguise

As Wisdom’s steadfast warning

Reveals deception’s lies

Eager and yet reluctant

She pauses at the door

Where hope, keen and expectant

Will take her place once more

Her dirge is over-taken

By her successor’s birth

Ah, hope remains unshaken

Though she sleeps in the earth

There is a time for laughter

There is a time for tears

‘Before’ is soon the ‘after’

This is the way of Years

© Janet Martin

Discoveries of the Day...or Thursday Thoughts~

The heart is an ocean

On which tempests move

The deeper the hurt

The deeper the love

***

Why do we hurt those

We most dearly love

And those we love dearly hurt us?

Well, I suppose

It must be because

Pain is the flip-side of love

If we didn’t care

Then love would not hurt

Its worth would compare

To a handful of dirt

But when we love deeply

The joy it imparts

Threads itself painfully

Through the core of our hearts

***

The difference between pain in love

And just simply pain

Is that pain in love

Is not suffered in vain

Though it may drive us

To thoughts of despair

Love’s pain folds perfectly

Into a prayer

True love’s pain

Will not destroy

It is the rain

Before the joy

 ***

Those things we desire

Come fully equipped

With excuses and justification

While unpleasing demands

Seem oddly stripped

Of time and obligation

***

If pride goes before a fall

And a haughty spirit before destruction

Perhaps we all should crawl

And avoid needless attention

***

If we looked into the mirror

Of His Word with honesty

We would love each other

With true humility

© Janet Martin

This Day of 12/12/12

This day of 12/12/12

Will pass just like the rest

Dawning in the eastern sky

And dying in the west

This day of 12/12/12

Is an ephemeral shell

And just like every other day

We ought to fill it well

© Janet Martin

I wrote this earlier today, but never got a chance to post it...

Wednesday Poemlets

It’s so easy to get tangled

By its sheer, translucent ilk

As it weaves its snare about us

With intention smooth as silk

But the truth cannot be hidden

Like a book on darkened shelves

And we ought not to be smitten

And thus trapped, by ourselves

© Janet Martin

Man’s law is clearly written

To keep order in the land

But Love’s law breaks man’s reason

In its ‘second-mile’ command

The law of love is perfect

Though often not understood

But, if we recognize its Giver

Then we know that it is good

© Janet Martin

The day sweep over the darkness

The dark sweeps over the day

God’s grace sweeps over our guilt and shame

And washes it all away

© Janet Martin

Mystery rises with the sun

We know not what a-waits

Before another day is done

And slips through heaven’s gates

Before another day is done

We ought to not let slip

This chance to dance, ere it is gone

Sealed in past’s frozen grip

The little we can ever know

Will never be enough

We ought to trust God and let go

Of everything, but love

© Janet Martin

Hope for the hour

And strength for its task

Love for my neighbor

This is all I ask

© Janet Martin

Temptation taunts

In sleek disguise

It flaunts

In sugar-coated lies

We need to be

Discerning; wise

Its subtlety

To recognize

© Janet Martin

The hour is a flower

Softly unfolding

God, help me to see

The bloom I am holding

© Janet Martin