Of Mortal and Divine

When every blade-leaf-petal is

dazzled with silver drops

we who behold would be amiss

not to pause, and praise God

The Hand of Time is, in essence the Hand of God!

So in troubled times like these,

we take heart for we are in Good Hands...

The Hand of Time unfolds flowers...

The lifespan of a flower is brief!

(see the transformation of a week in the photos below)

The Hand of God holds eternity!!

It bids us consider well whose Hand

we choose to trust!

***

Eccles.12:6-7

Remember your Creator

 before the silver cord is [b]loosed,
Or the golden bowl is broken,
Or the pitcher shattered at the fountain,
Or the wheel broken at the well.
7Then the dust will return to the earth as it was,
And the spirit will return to God who gave it.

***

Outstretched, across the land and sea

Without form to define

This indelible unity

Where mortal and divine

...cradles the earth and tips yon purse

With dawn’s momentous lure

Once more life's for better or worse

Runs rife, to rich and poor

To test the sacred symmetry

That binds body and soul

And balances humanity

Against the holy Whole

Of love’s sovereign authority

Above sky, sea, and sod

Mist mingles with eternity

The Hand of Time and God

A flower cannot keep its prime

As dust's due decks the sod

The Soul slips through the hand of Time

Into the hand of God

© Janet Martin

Job 14:1-2

Man, who is born of woman,

is short of days and full of trouble.

2Like a flower, he comes forth, then withers away;

like a fleeting shadow,

 he does not endure.

Wonder-Thunder

 

That I should have 

the benefit

Of strolling beneath 

lofty trees

With eyes to see

 the height of it

And ears to hear 

the sighing breeze

And ink to spell

 the sight of it

And thought to fill 

with wonder’s verve

And drink in 

the delight of it

Is so much more than

 I deserve

© Janet Martin

The Fight is Real, My Friend

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,

 but against principalities, against powers, 

against the rulers of [a]the darkness of this age, 

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 

Eph.6:12

...as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,

 through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises,

 that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, 

having escaped the [a]corruption that is in the world through lust.

2 Peter 1:3-4

Wonderful, Merciful Saviour

 

Jesus Paid It All...

The fight is real, my friend

The enemy we face

Will often tempt us to defend

Errors of truth and grace

We should be on our guard

Armed with the Word of God

Because the fight is real and hard

And without worldly laud

Pride goes before the fall

How careful we should be

To seek God’s Kingdom first of all

With awed humility

The foe we fight is sly

Unscrupulous and vile

With all that cannot satisfy

He lures us with a smile

Seduction’s schemes seem sweet

Enslavement’s camouflage

Disguises stampedes of defeat

With pride’s vain entourage

…and we would all fall prey

To depravity’s sewer

Without God’s Word to light the way

So that we may endure

His divine power grants

Everything that we need

To equip us as we advance

Through (battle) fields of thought and deed

© Janet Martin

Just as Jehoshaphat cried, as he stood in the assembly

of Judah and Jerusalem, do we...

2 Chron.20:

6,

O Lord God of our fathers, are You not God in heaven, 

and do You not rule over all the kingdoms of the nations, 

and in Your hand is there not power and might, 

so that no one is able to withstand You?

12,

O our God, will You not judge them? 

For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; 

nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”

15,

“Listen, all you... Thus says the Lord to you:

 ‘Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, 

for the battle is not yours, but God’s.

17

Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord,

 who is with you...

Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them,

 for the Lord is with you.”

In this promiscuous age we pray for wisdom like never before...

Prov.9:10

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, 

And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

Today's post inspired in part by today's

Bible Love Note

Sweet Season of Summer-Is

 

Happy, Happy Officially-Summer!

(I  didn't think about or look at the date yesterday

 and it didn't dawn on me till this morning that It's Summer!!!)

Also, just as a reminder, 

we no longer have the whole summer ahead of us!

We are already a day-and-a-half into it, so,

don't waste a single sparkle

 because 

all too soon

its sparkles will be

 white and frosty😅❆

Sweet season of warm, drawn-out days

Of early apricot-glazed dawn...

Of distant mist-spearmint-kissed sweeps

Fringing bucolic countryside...

Of midday picnics on the lawn...

(helping gramma with a refill)

Of rippling, rolling wheat-field seas

Crowned with welkin, azure marquee...

Of five-star cuisine, simplified

As bowls and baskets start to brim

With garden dreams and prayers come true...

Rainbow of laundry-laden lines...

Whisper of wisteria vines...

Popsicles moustaches,

...hopscotch

This was a bit of poem unfolding with the day and day unfolding with the poem...

Sweet season of warm, drawn-out days

Of early apricot-glazed dawn

And coral dusk’s lingering haze

Of midday picnics on the lawn

Beneath lush, green-leaf canopies

Of School's Out Heaven, fancy-free

Of rippling, rolling wheat-field seas

Crowned with welkin, azure marquee

Of flower-gardens running wild

Ignoring fences, frilling lanes

Of laughing, leaping barefoot child

Of dew-diamonds and daisy chains

Of distant mist-spearmint-kissed sweeps

Fringing bucolic countryside

Of raindrop-dappled, dusty streets

Of five-star cuisine, simplified

As bowls and baskets start to brim

With garden dreams and prayers come true

As thankfulness ignites a hymn

That humbly runs us through and through

As moments, soon memento-spun

Are gathered into heart-shaped vaults

Coppice-glint, silver in the sun

Splash of cartwheels and somersaults

Rainbow of laundry-laden lines

Or rural, roadside flower-shops

Whisper of wisteria vines

Popsicles moustaches, hopscotch

Where sometimes work is more like play

And sometimes after ‘playing’ hard

We take a tea-break holiday

And spread a quilt in the backyard

To revel in the sheer delight

Of summer, spilling in Real Time

Through half-shut eyes we feel its flight

Performing, like a pantomime

Where here-and-now and summers-spent

Somehow, bitterly-sweetly stir

A ballad of love and lament

Where joys and sorrows rush and blur

In summer-song, a tide that tolls

And strums the soul with smiles and tears

A wave that lifts and falls and rolls

Across Today, and disappears

Thus, no one can afford to gaze

Too long at ways we cannot thwart

Better to turn lament to praise

Better a lover, glad to court

The hour full of fleeting fronds

Of lilies, like lanterns, sunlit

Of cannonballs in turquoise ponds,

Of excuses to pause a bit

To marvel at what we might miss

Like the color of morn on leaves

The holy, unexpected bliss

That beauty-stolen breath achieves

The loveliness of letting go

Of what no one can keep, to hold

The ephemeral ebb and flow

Of petal-purple, scarlet, gold

While summer spirals like a spark

From campfires that flare and fade

Beneath star-polka-dotted dark

As expectation’s hit-parade

Chimes in belfries of hollyhock

Pink burst of  hello births farewell

Platinum lake laps, slaps the dock

Happiness; none can buy or sell

Seizes the Yellow Day that grants

Uncharted opportunity

To kick up treasure-dust and dance

To lyrics of a memory

To savor every sparkle-crumb

That falls from tables, heaven-cast

Spilling feasts destined to become

From Summer-Is, echo-repast

© Janet Martin

To marvel at what we might miss

Like the color of morn on/through leaves...

The holy, unexpected bliss

That beauty-stolen-breath achieves...

Better a lover, glad to court

The hour full of fleeting fronds

Of lilies, like lanterns, sunlit...

Peony-June

Peak peony-blooming time and longevity

 depends a lot on the temperatures of June.

This year's moderate to slightly cooler temps 

will hopefully vibrantly extend the much anticipated lifespan 

of our beloved peony!

Here is an attempt to share

a bit of pink petal-pleasure with you.

Enjoy!

Many a face has been buried deep in your perfumed bloom

Many a burdened carried then lost in your ruffled loom

Many a heart has been lifted, and many a witness awed

And many a bouquet gifted straight from the hand of God

Many a poem has thundered, many a poet been born

Many a marvel wondered while praising thy lovely form

Many a prayer has been murmured, and many a care set free

In thee, plush harbinger of summer, in thee, pretty peony

Many a gladness kindled, and many a sadness cheered

Many an atheist humbled by many a Beauty endeared

Where many a bud has broken and many a posy has strewn

Many a petal-pink token of many a peony-June

© Janet Martin

Peony-Bliss Carmen

Care's Counterbalance...Creator's Kindness

Let's pray in these times-like-never-before 

where nations are turning from God like never before

that we who believe commit to seeing, hearing, obeying,

relying on and worshipping Him like never before...

Many are the witnesses of faith we may look to for courage, chiefly Jesus!!

Heb.12:1-2

Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

 let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us,

 and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

 2looking unto Jesus, the [a]author and [b]finisher of our faith,

 who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, 

despising the shame, and has sat down 

at the right hand of the throne of God.

When we delight in the beauty of creation

it is not hard to believe that our Creator God is awesome above all else!!

Isaiah 46:9
Remember the former things of old:

for I am God, and there is none else; 

I am God, and there is none like me,

Sometimes life’s woes could blind us to God’s kindnesses unfurled

To counterbalance creature cares in a care-laden world

He tunes heaven and earth with boons too manifold to count

He woos us to drink deeply from June’s leaf and flower fount

Where once again He clothes the land with garb of seed and bud

In keeping with the covenant, He made after the flood

To manifest His evidence, creation shouts His name

To quench credence to atheism’s cold and calloused claim

He comforts us with colours only His thought can compose

And sweetens Heaven-hunger with reason only He knows

Where each season showcases masterpieces, mercy-lent

Where nothing in this world replaces Goodness, mercy-bent

To well in us, in spite of aches and pangs that sting and press

A worship-bidden, wonder-smitten hymn of happiness

Of reverence and honour to He from Whom blessings pour

To awe and cheer us onward to the joy still set before

...to capture our attention with surprises full of grace

To lavish wounds of learning with fond glimpses of His face 

To never let life blind us to He who is kind and good

Whose invisible qualities are clearly understood

© Janet Martin

Rom.1:20

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—

his eternal power and divine nature—

 have been clearly seen, 

being understood from what has been made, 

so that people are without excuse.

Oh God!!! May I/we never live

 unawed!

Minding/Counting our 'Much-es' (or Much to Make the Most Of)

(I think Grandsonny might be thinking

'h-m-m! Shoulda waited a little longer 

for these to come out of the oven before biting a muffin...'🤣

Of course he tasted these later for lunch dessert!)

So much to be thankful for...

in the midst of so much to be careful for...

(first attempt at making soft tortillas!) 

they were yummy!

in the midst of so much to be prayerful for!!

***

Luke 12:48

 For everyone to whom much is given, 

from him much will be required; 

The reveille of the morning sun rouses mortal to Much

Much task and obligation run like rivers through our touch

Much beauty to behold freely surprises us with joy

And cheers us on where much duty deals a tireless employ

Much care to kindle prayer from a much-too-forgetful race

And where much sin and sorrow bear fruit, praise God, much more grace

Much sacred consequence as innocence sheds fledgling gauze

Where soon evidence manifests much effect from much cause

Where much we once thought hidden is much too plain to deny

Much long aftermath bidden from much-too-hasty reply

Where oh, so much temptation taunts gifted students of Want

With so much education, not found in ink-scripted font

Much may seem commonplace until it slips beyond our reach

As much Unknown to face unveils much left to learn and teach

Where Much is a mean Charmer without a much Higher Call

Than much dream stripped of glamor lost to Bygone’s shadow-hall

Where, though so much is taken much remains to make much of

Much wonder to be wakened and shaken from much to love

Much to challenge, test and estrange much once we thought we knew

Where though so much is bound to change, the Truth is always true

And much we make such fuss about soon fills yesterday’s shoes/news

While much of what we trust or doubt will anchor or confuse

Where much abounds to make us glad and sad, and weak and strong

And much will drive us mad and much will spill in worship’s song

So much dismay to humble much that would turn into pride

So much to make us stumble over much not Self-denied 

Where much of what we touch and taste is much more than we need

Oh God, so much of what we waste could shelter, clothe and feed

Where Much is like a Fount that brims with Much to share and give

And much to give account for, where Much fills each day we live 

Much trouble to perplex where much more mercy intercedes

Much to allure and vex the troubadour where Order pleads

Much delight to discover on detours to Destiny

Much to excite the Lover of nature’s pure poetry

Where Much To Make the Most Of is life’s common ground, my friend

From He who loves us so much more than we can comprehend

© Janet Martin

Luke 16:10

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much,

and one who is dishonest in a very little

is also dishonest in much.

Much beauty to behold freely surprises us with joy...