The Sacred 'Real Deal'

1 Sam.16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel,

 “Do not look at his appearance 

or at the height of his stature,

 because I have rejected him; 

for God does not see as man sees, 

since man looks at the outward appearance, 

but the LORD looks at the heart.”

Decorated facades

Like pretty cakes, appeal...

(but the truth of the matter is, this pretty frosting

 could be covering something delectable 

or extremely vile! 

The outside doesn't tell...)

Below is a photo my daughter sent me today,

 of a cake she made for a school fundraiser

(used with permission)

It looks great!

And I have tasted enough of her baking to be sure it will taste great!

However 'it looks great' alone is not enough!

It's what is under the countenance that counts🙏

As a man thinks, he is

Thought soon gives way to voice

The invisible genesis

Of love turns into choice

Thought's word and deed unfolds

Like leaves on many trees

Yet, countenance that gaze beholds

Is not what God’s eye sees

Eden’s forbidden fruit

Was pleasing to the eye

 Thought entertained That Cunning Brute

Then partook of his lie

Pride mocks God, true and good

The evidence of thought

Is always clearly understood

Through fear of Him, or not

Decorated facades

Like pretty cakes, appeal

But beneath what visage applauds

Is the crucial 'real deal'  

Therefore, we ought to heed

 Thought's hotbed of design

Ere aftermath of scattered seed

Hangs heavy on the vine 

For as we think we are

Then, pray this is our plea

That meditations of the heart

Are pleasing, Lord, to Thee

© Janet Martin

Ps.141

I call upon You, O LORD; come quickly to me.

Hear my voice when I call to You.

2May my prayer be set before You like incense,

my uplifted hands like the evening offering.

3Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth;

keep watch at the door of my lips.

4Do not let my heart be drawn to any evil thing

or take part in works of wickedness

with men who do iniquity;

let me not feast on their delicacies.

5Let the righteous man strike me;

let his rebuke be an act of loving devotion.

It is oil for my head; let me not refuse it.

For my prayer is ever against the deeds of the wicked.

6When their rulers are thrown down from the cliffs,

the people will listen to my words,

for they are pleasant.

7As when one plows and breaks up the soil,

so our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol.

8But my eyes are fixed on You,

O GOD the Lord.

In You I seek refuge;

do not leave my soul defenseless. 

9Keep me from the snares they have laid for me,

and from the lures of evildoers.

10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,

while I pass by in safety.

Of Unbroken Marriage Vows

Today is my parent's 60th Wedding Anniversary...

On Saturday Mom and Dad, along with all children and spouses

enjoyed a day of celebration of God's goodness,

in the blessing of the milestone of 60 years of marriage!

And no, the waters have not always been calm and sun-sparkled!

They have weathered many a self-sacrificing storm.

Happy 60th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

So thankful for you!

No beauty in the world compares to love that stands the test of time

A yoke weathered by creature cares through vows uttered in youth’s green prime

Where none, as God joins heart to heart, with love’s solemn ‘from this day forth’

Can know how far ‘till death doth part’ will undo Heaven’s best on earth

For, when love is patient and kind, and when it does not seek its own

There is nothing that we can find worth more (save faith’s sound Cornerstone)

To ground love’s house built on the Rock, an anchor for the storms we face

To help us in our walk and talk to be examples of God’s grace

For it is by His grace love bears and believes and endures all things

A Threefold Cord; nothing compares to the strength this awareness brings

Where, by the mystery of God two become one, till death doth part

Let not man put asunder what marriage vows have joined, heart to heart

For nothing in the world compares to love that withstands living’s test

A recompense of humble prayers, of lessons learned through forgiveness

To bring honor and glory to He who is a most faithful Friend

And helps Husband and Wife to be loving and faithful to the end

Dear Mom and Dad…

God, bless and keep, protect and guide you on this special day, and then

From this day forth may He provide love and faith’s sacred need, amen

Where, though much in this world is broken, may what time weathers and bows

By God’s grace be love’s faithful token of Unbroken Marriage Vows

© Janet Martin

Num.6:24-26

“The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
 The Lord [a]lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’

Gladder, If You Please

Col.3:12-14

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, 

put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;

 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, 

if anyone has a complaint against another; 

even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 

14 But above all these things put on love, 

which is the bond of perfection.

No matter what happens, we are accountable

for our response...

thus, this little Sabbath Prayer...

God, make me gladder, if you please

To ‘do unto the least of these’

With generous humility

Remembering, it is to Thee

Then, with kinder heart, soul and mind

May I life's perfect purpose find

To love Thee, Lord, above all else

And then my neighbor as myself

Amen  

© Janet Martin

As today's bud unfolds

may we remember we will bring its flower

back to the One who gave it

God bless you today!

Matt.25:40

And the King shall answer and say unto them,

 ‘Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it

 unto one of the least of these My brethren, 

ye have done it unto Me.’

Wonder-dust or Swansong or September...

It had to be...a heart-and-soul Swansong!

Happy, happy, happy, happy

Last Day of Summer 2023

Your light that splays like amber glaze and bathes the earth in mellow mist...

Your wind-tossed bars where aster-stars twinkle like shattered amethyst...

Your lanes that wind, goldenrod lined, to lure us from the beaten track...

Your paradise for butterflies...

...and tousled wild-bloom bric-a-brac

Your pendulum of pear and plum drip-dripping from our lips and chins...

your brisker air that starts to wear the shriek of jay...

and honk of geese...

Your kitchen heat, pungent and sweet with basil, garlic, pickling spice

Your garden dish that makes me wish somehow, we could live each meal twice...

Your humble toil of mercy's spoil like contrails of an upward spark...

(a photo so we remember how tall the sweet corn grew this year!!!!)

Your orchard stroll that thrills the soul with apple-dappled dreams come true...

Your light that splays like amber glaze and bathes the earth in mellow mist

Your wind-tossed bars where aster-stars twinkle like shattered amethyst

Your garnet splash of mountain ash berries against backdrops of blue

Your orchard stroll that thrills the soul with apple-dappled dreams come true

Your heady blur of lavender, of marigold and cricket lays

Your subtle change as you estrange vistas of younger, summer days

Your pendulum of pear and plum drip-dripping from our lips and chins

A glockenspiel that starts to peal with farewell's reel as fall begins  

Your lanes that wind, goldenrod lined, to lure us from the beaten track

Your paradise for butterflies, and tousled wild bloom bric-a-brac

Your hugs that war with tugs that roar with Bygone’s foregone victory

Your tango of longing and love, where mulled breeze strums the yellow tree

Your brisker air begins to wear the shriek of jay and honk of geese

And in our hearts a hunger starts to prepare us for your release

And the so-long, as your swansong suffuses morning, noon and night

Relinquishment sublimely rent with tender grief and sheer delight 

Your kitchen heat, pungent and sweet with basil, garlic, pickling spice

Your garden dish that makes me wish somehow, we could live each meal twice

Your humble toil of mercy's spoil like contrails of an upward spark

Your melodies that waft and tease a world tucked beneath early dark

Your tangerine and gold and green as gourds are heaped in bright array

Your crisp hello where dawn’s tableau gleams like a silver serving tray

Your rains that spill from hill to hill, your chill that kindles wanderlust

Your pleasure of so-much-to-love before you turn to wonder-dust

September, you run wonder through us like shafts of sunlight through leaves 

You rush the skin that we are in with joys gathered like harvest sheaves 

While we begin to sense the thinning, winning ways of days of yore

You wake in us an ache because of so much to be thankful for 

© Janet Martin

Your tangerine and gold and green as gourds are heaped in bright array...

Your crisp hello where dawn’s tableau gleams like a silver serving tray...

Your rains that spill from hill to hill, your chill that kindles wanderlust...

Your pleasure of so-much-to-love before you turn to wonder-dust...

Yesterday's 'canning-first'-plum sauce! SO yummy

Where Ethereal Oceans Skim...

 

So much beauty to savor,

Midst much sorrow and woe

Not by our merit or favor

but by God's mercy/goodness we go...

***

I had just typed the first two lines of this poem

when the phone rang. Jim was loading cattle at a nearby farm and wondered

if I could bring him a fried egg sandwich so I did and this turned into

an early morning errand run,

 granting these sweet photo ops!

Rush hour on rural Ontario roads...

Pastoral pastures...

Daybreak rolls like a golden sea

Across the countryside...

Daybreak rolls like a golden sea

Across the countryside

A fleeting flood of majesty

Beneath hope’s groaning stride

Where we of sundry circumstance

Of mingled bittersweet

Are dearly loved by He who grants

Dawn’s sea beneath our feet

Across time’s scape of gaping graves

Ethereal oceans skim

The Giver walks amidst the waves

And bids us lean on Him

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,

 but on what is unseen, 

since what is seen is temporary, 

but what is unseen is eternal.

 

 

Knowledge, Too Wonderful For Me

This morning the news of the second one of our children needing to replace

the transmission on their vehicles, reminds us,

in this world we will have (expensive) trouble...

but we have a faithful Helper in times of need

to trust day by day...

Ps.46:1

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble...

2 Pet.3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge

 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 To him be glory both now and forever!

 Amen.  

The God who grants countless visual marvels

authors faith's far more awesome and Invisible 

marvels/anchors of the soul!

Hallelujah!

John 16:33

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. 

In this world you will have trouble. 

But take heart! 

I have overcome the world.”

Knowing that You love us, Lord

Knowing that You keep Your word

Knowing that Your word is true

Anchors our hope in You

Knowing that Your no and yes

Leads in paths of righteousness

Comforts us through trouble’s test

Knowing You know what is best

Knowing, when our own strength fails

Your sufficient grace prevails

Cheers us on from day to day

Knowing that You know the way 

Knowing someday, face to face

Will faith’s darksome glass erase

Helps us in all that we do

To keep our eyes on You

Knowing that You hear and care

For the heart outpoured in prayer

Humbles every word and deed

Knowing You supply our need

Knowing You know every part

Every intent of the heart

Silences all boast but one

The cross suffered by your Son

Knowing, that as we believe

And salvation’s gift receive

Joy will crown this old world's woe

Knowing that You love us so

© Janet Martin

Ps.139:5-6

You hem me in behind and before;

You have laid Your hand upon me.

6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

Monday (or any) Morning Resolution List

Let me listen so I hear

Mercy’s music in my ear...

This is the day the Lord has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it

Ps.118;24

Let me listen so I hear

Mercy’s music in my ear

Let me look so I may see

Unfurled opportunity

Let me touch so I may feel

The raw rush of awe’s appeal

Let me savour flavours of

So much still to learn and love

Ere dawn’s bloom of hope and hurt

Strews its flower/hour in the dirt

Ere the room that I am in

Sheds its plume of bone and skin

Ere the flare of gifted breath

Snuffs the wick of life with death

Ere as Time’s last gasp is spent

The veil round the soul is rent

Let me taste Now’s hasting sum

Let me waste no drop or crumb

Ere dusk’s shadow-steeples fade

From this day the Lord has made

Ere ‘have’ disappears to ‘had’

Let me rejoice and be glad

Ere too late I vainly rue

The gate no hand can undo

© Janet Martin

Hopefully today's moments will be veggie-soup flavored!

with this recipe...