Saturday, December 22, 2018

Sacred Mantle...

We all know someone touched by death's solemn sadness, their lives forever altered...
It wraps a sort of sacred mantle about the heart for what we dare not take for granted; each other!
I visited with such a mother yesterday, and we talked of other families who are mourning as well.



Sacred mantle ’round the heart
Who can tell the morrow
Who can know that solemn start
To love’s anguished sorrow?

Who can know, amidst the rush
Of love’s common giving
Who will be the next of us
To pass beyond the living?

Sacred mantle ‘round the heart
Keens a kinder gladness
For each face and place and part
Not yet rent with sadness

© Janet Martin


Little Poem for a Big 'Best Blessing'



It’s nice to have nice neighbours
Wouldn’t you agree
The kind that is but isn’t
Kinda like family

The kind that you can call on
For help, hello and such
A friendly wave, a catch-up chat
If we’ve been out of touch

The kind that makes humbly sure
That we’ve been double-blessed
By the people that live next door
Because our neighbours are the best!

© Janet Martin



First and Foremost




The Birth of Jesus
…But after he had pondered these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to embrace Mary as your wife, for the One conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you shall give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:…

Matt.1:20-22


(The Title Page in this video has an error: it should say Matt Mayer instead of Matt Redman)


To He who lends dawn’s mystery
And bids night’s awning dim
He bids that our love should be
First and foremost for Him

God sent His Son to earth to move
And change the world.  Jesus
Through lowly birth and death would prove
How great His love for us

Upon a donkey mile on mile
His mother Mary rode
To Bethlehem; heavy with Child
To search for night’s abode

No room was found to lay her head
Only a stable’s floor
Only a manger for the bed
Of Jesus Christ, the Lord

Holy, most holy King of kings
Stepped from His throne to be
For all mankind, The Offering
That sets doomed sinners free

They gave to Him the name Jesus
According to God’s Word
And faithful through the ages, still
The heart of man is stirred

No greater story ever told
It is not finished yet
Until the prophecies of old
Unfold all that He said

From He who lends dawn’s mystery
And bids night’s awning dim
He commands our love to be
First and foremost for Him

© Janet Martin



The Greatest Commandment
…“Teacher, which commandment is the greatest in the Law?”
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
This is the first and greatest commandment.…


 Matt.22:36-38

Friday, December 21, 2018

Happy First Day of Winter (or Happy-days-will-start-to-get-longer)

In keeping with The Times, the rain outside the window is trying hard to turn into snow.
Last night's rain dissolved the last clinging traces of white,
So after all that snow we've had, we're back to Dreaming of a White Christmas!



Happy Winter Begins!


Season of boots
Coats, mitts and hats
And smoke and soot,
And fireside naps
And steaming mugs
And ice and snow
And sweater-hugs
And cold gales, oh,

And dazzling sweeps
Of green forgot
And shoveled heaps
Of you know what
And fuzzy socks
And small-print books
And crisp, brisk walks
And pillow-nooks

And scrabble-boards
And poetry
Some without words
Like stars set free
To tumble-twirl
In soundless lilt
And tuck the world
Beneath down-quilt

The barren tree
A work of art
Its melody
A tug-of-heart
The dormant lea
A Master Peace
The cup of tea
A sweet release

Season of grays
And fresh-baked Yum
Of humble praise
For Home-warm-home
Of breath-cloud b-r-r-r
And frost-starred glass
Of winter, shiver-
Come-to-pass

© Janet Martin