Of Old and Newer Nows

Tis not so much the What as the How

Tis not so much the Then as the Now

For Then is defined by young and old

In How we use the Now we hold

The Now we hold is soon exchanged

For newer Nows; this Now estranged

From us forever save in fields

That bloom with what the old Now yields

© Janet Martin

While Worth

Oh, in the coming-going of appointments here on earth

We might lose sight sometimes, of what our While is really worth

To love, forgive, to hope and live each moment to its full

Is more than dust-to-dust as we pray, trust and push and pull

This strange affair of daily care mingled with mercy’s joy

Can distract us with common fuss of love and loss alloy

And then it might be easy to forget just what we hold

Or that the worth of it is more than testaments of gold

This all-consuming, tug-of-warring heart and hand abyss

Of tears and mirth, for what it’s worth, is not all that there is

And well we should remember what this While will never see

That what we think and say and do is worth eternity

© Janet Martin

May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance...

 ...But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good. 
2 Thess. 3:5&13

Thought-scape Shaper

This new day through Time’s gold-grey-blue

Will not escape our Keepers view

Its high and low and in-between

Shapes the thought-scape with what has been

The morrow and the yesterday

Align the time we call today

Today is all we ever have

Wherein life’s constant care we brave

But we are not alone, oh no

Life’s in-between and high and low

As time bleeds out its sundry ways

Never escapes our Keeper’s gaze

From bud to bloom to scattered plume

Today is mankind's living-room

But in its awesome rise and fall

Evolves the thought-scape of it all

© Janet Martin

What absorbs your thought; the past, the future or the present? Soon the future is the past, but it is always shaped in the present.

Not Your Typical Mother's Day Poem

(Photo is from the book, Notes on Love and Courage by Hugh Prather)

We will always be hurt most

Where love runs most deeply

Testing the measure

Of words spouted cheaply

Disappointment often wears

Not the face of strangers,

But family and friends

Born with human nature

Our own weaknesses

Are not excuses

For self-pity or revenge

We should remember Jesus

…and forgive as does He

What we cannot erase

We are broken vessels

Saved by grace

© Janet Martin

 Thinking of hurting mothers this morning. May God's grace fill you with unexpected joy!

 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
² He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
³ He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. Ps. 23

Forgive Me? from a Mom

For those times

I criticize

When I should encourage

Or worry

When I should pray

Or talk

When I should listen

Or fling my arms up

When I should fold them around you

Or scold

When I should help

Or frown

When I should smile

Or work

When I should play

Or run

When I should walk

Or sigh

When I should say ‘thank-you’

  

"I’m sorry,
Forgive me?".

Janet~