Friday, August 7, 2015

Ah, Kind, Immortal Presence





Ah, kind Immortal Presence
Cheering our mortal stay
Guiding our right and left hands
Lest we should go astray

Ah, gentle, faithful Father
When loss and fear besiege
Still, to Your breast You gather
Our cry and grant our needs

Compassionate companion
The longings of the soul
Subside in the communion
That makes the spirit whole

Ah, kind, Immortal Presence
Tending our mortal groan
A solid Rock and Defense
To hold each stepping-stone

© Janet Martin

It's a bad-news world, isn't it?
But through it all God is good and faithful still.
I'm praying for a friend's husband who was diagnosed with cancer last week in the midst of preparing their daughter's wedding and enjoying being grandparents for the first time.
Will you pray too?

 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; Lam.3:25


The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Ps. 145:18


The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed,
A stronghold in times of trouble;
And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, 
For You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. 
Ps.9:9-10



Thursday, August 6, 2015

Preference or Principle





The ploys of preference seeks to
Drown out Old Principle
Greed sees no need to think Choice through
To the Invisible

Preference grabs at instant ease
Ignoring wisdom’s voice
Where consequence cannot appease
The aftermath of Choice

But Principle, unwavering
Does not alter its stance
It scans the span beyond the wing
Of present Circumstance

And looks to One higher than man
Whose precept was ordained
To give us something Truer than
The whims of Want unchained

Ah, Principal or Preference
We have it All to lose
Where morrow’s Awesome dividends
Depend on what we choose

© Janet Martin

But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8

Of All There Is to Learn





In all the ways of growing old
That we must learn to learn
In spite of what we have been told
As soft the seasons turn
We are not spared and cannot keep
The forward flow of days from sleep

In all the ways that days allow
Of laughter, love and loss
It seems we are surprised somehow
By life’s swift albatross
And how its charge is intertwined
With mercy- gardens, lily-lined

In all the ways of have and hold
A stunning undertow
Roars rampant as the skies unfold
Time’s timeless letting go
The dark consumes the little day
The flower blooms then falls away

In all the changeless laws of dust
That we inherit here
It seems we need to learn to trust
Or suffer, cursed with fear
As we learn all there is to learn
In this Through-way of No Return

© Janet Martin


 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. 
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

1 Pet.1:24

I know summer flies by, yet, every summer I'm stunned at the haste of it!
Last night I stood, mesmerized as hallowed good-byes
washed ripened harvest with sighs...







Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Summer's Soft-sorrowing Sigh



I just finished a farewell tour of sorts in my flower-garden...



Akin to bittersweet good-bye
Of bidding fond farewell to friends
Is summer’s soft-sorrowing sigh
When flowers fade as blooming ends

The heart-tugs of love’s letting go
Must cater to the call of clocks
As still, in spite of what we know
We are stunned by what Time unlocks

The cricket trills, the blossom spills
The bud that stole our breath is stripped
The resting place of daffodils
Is unrelenting and tight-lipped

And often, smitten to the quick
We realize anew the old
How subtle is the painting-stick
Air-brushing hours from our hold

We walk the garden path slowly
Savor the sweetness on our tongue
For akin to the flowers we
Acknowledge no one can stay young

© Janet Martin

...of course, there is still LOTS left to enjoy; flower-gardens, that is.
Of life, who can know? 

Things to Remember





It’s easy to forget
In living’s coming-going plod
That the way we treat fellowmen
Reflects to them our love for God

It’s easy to forget
When fanciful Enticement tempts
That, after the brief thrill of it
Remains far-reaching consequence

It’s easy to forget
The words that spew from tempers lost
Carry, in spite of deep regret
A sad, inevitable cost

It’s easy to forget
How swift moments tune history
And how each little thing we do
Adds to life’s lasting legacy

It’s easy to forget
That by the grace of God we go
No matter where or who we are
We should remember it is so

© Janet Martin

 Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed 
to the things which we have heard, 
lest at any time we should let them slip. 
Heb. 2:1