The Great Orchestra of Livelihood

 If COVID-19 has shown us anything it's that we all have a vital part 

to 'play' in the Great Orchestra of Livelihood!

We all need a bit o' bread to eat and a little nest to sleep in!

It struck me as the farmer waved as he rolled by on his tractor,

as the 'mess' behind the house gaped at me as I hung out laundry...

...waiting for the plumber to get the proper permits to proceed

as campers roll by on the first July weekend

as campgrounds depend on patrons

as does every other business,

that we all need each other!

 Surely we are all essential to someone!

Some of my instruments come from the garden today!

Oh, what sweet music medley (aka salads) waits to be made!

Thank-you God (and very hard-working truck-driving husband)

Always like to go to some extra pains pleasure, for Saturday night supper

for Jim after mostly lunch-box menus all week.

Through a mist-kissed colour-flue

Orange-emerald-purple-blue

Pink, magenta, yellow, red

Tolls the quest for daily bread

Rolls the wheels of cars and trucks

All to earn a couple bucks

To address the need, the like

Susie’s braces, Tommy’s trike

Dreams to fill and bills to pay

Banker versus holiday

Some days bad and others good

In the quest of livelihood

Don the duds to fight the fight

All heroes in our own right

Banker, trucker, farmer, nurse

Reap the fruit of Adam’s curse

Picker, painter, poet, ah

All part of its purposed law

Wielder of hammer or trowel

Spatula, shovel, tea-towel

Florist, dentist,baker, cook

Author of best-seller book

Bard and bloke part of the brood

Yoked with quest for livelihood

Seller, buyer, shy or bold

Doctor, lawyer, young or old

Astronaut or engineer

Pilot, pastor, puppeteer

All share in a common quest

Bread to eat and little nest

Garbage collectors and those

Who cut our hair and groom our toes

Who sweep the streets, who drives the cab

Who polices those who would nab

That earned by other’s sweat and blood

All in the quest for livelihood

Meat-packers, mechanics too

All with vital work to do

Caregivers, delivery boys

For our tradesmen, make some noise

Librarians, grocers, oh

By the grace of God we go

Big or small, all a part of

Living’s leap of eat-sleep-love

Then, if you have a bit of bread

Remember to bow your head

And thank God, from man's curse He wooed

The Orchestra of livelihood

© Janet Martin

Mustering a Morning Hymn of Happiness

The lightness in dawn’s tread is felt rather than heard. The lark

Sensing her advent before light seeps through blue velvet dark

Pipes praises from veiled stages to the Maestro of the morn

Where beckoning of newness from the old is brightly borne

Upon the beaten path of Choice God re-extends His grace

He cannot wait to stun us with mercy’s mysterious ways

Then on and upward, darling, from night’s nebulous cocoon

A butterfly unfolds its wings and brushes out the moon

The readiness of reckoning resumes its ardent task

The summoning of summer pours persuasion from its flask

Where hope and hunger clash in a splash of opposing tides

And on its foaming residue a world of wonder rides

…then we cannot resist the urge (if faith in God empowers)

To wade, waist deep into the day and rediscover flowers

To kneel upon dust-tarmac scarred and starred with ‘no’ and ‘yes’

To muster from heartstrings of trust a hymn of happiness

© Janet Martin

 
Psalm 59:16
But I will sing of Your strength and proclaim Your loving devotion in the morning. 

For You are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.

The pics below taken at yester-dusk...

The Way It Goes...

gardening always drives home

the raw reality

of the circle of life...

The way it goes

Each perfect rose

Succumbs to time’s incumbent must

And all that breathes

Surely bequeaths

Its tallied timbre to the dust

Then, toss thy head

But don’t forget

Each lilting leaf will fade and fall

And rise and shine

But keep in mind

The Lord and Master of it all

This circle of

Life’s learn-laugh-love

by strength’s reason might grant four-score

But that last breath

Ushers in death

How utter then, forevermore

© Janet Martin

Psalm 103:14-16

 14 For He Himself knows our frame;
            He is mindful that we are but dust.

      15As for man, his days are like grass;
            As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.

      16When the wind has passed over it, it is no more,
            And its place acknowledges it no longer.

to stop reading here sounds rather futile, doesn't it?!
THIS is verse 17&18
 But the lovingkindness of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
on those who fear Him,
            And His righteousness to children’s children,
      18To those who keep His covenant
            And remember His precepts to do them.
...and verse 13?
 Just as a father has compassion on his children,
            So the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him.

In Thee...

  In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust; 

let me never be ashamed: 

deliver me in thy righteousness.

Psalm 31:1 KJV

In Thee I put my trust

Though naysayers abound

And many confuse love and lust

And what is holy ground

In Thee hope is secure

Without, all else is vain

In thee faith’s foundation is sure

And death will be my gain

In Thee I fix my gaze

Beyond this broken world

The Fullness of love’s humble praise

Will ever be unfurled

© Janet Martin

Victors, Even As We Fight

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, 

and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, 

when we love God and obey his commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. 

And his commandments are not burdensome.

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. 

And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Who is it that overcomes the world 

except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

1 John 5:1-5

Not overcome by evil; no, but victors even as we fight

We battle a defeated foe if we are walking in the Light

Though Satan like a lion roams still seeking whom he may devour

Though he with desperation combs the world with his limited power

He knows the fullness of his woe and the hopelessness of his plight

And though the victory is won the fight is real; the fight is hard

And though the work of Christ is done, the soul must be on sober guard

To be love’s living sacrifice with kind regard to human race

To be willing to pay the price that comes with Mercy’s gift of grace

As on hope’s Steadfast Beacon we fix faith’s blurred reason, sorrow-scarred

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might

Put on the whole armour of God so you may withstand evil’s smite

For without Him defeat is sure; death and hell, its secured reward

Ah, who such anguish can endure and who such horror can afford

But we, according to His word, are victors even as we fight

© Janet Martin

Eph.6:10-18

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.  

 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  

 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, 

but against the rulers, against the authorities, 

against the powers of this dark world 

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  

 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, 

you may be able to stand your ground, 

and after you have done everything, to stand.  

 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, 

with the breastplate of righteousness in place,  

 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  

 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, 

with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.  

 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, 

which is the word of God.

  And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. 

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.