Thursday, November 2, 2023

Worth Every Tender Mercy


God is not who we imagine Him to be.
God is who He says He is in His Word.
God's Word is not filled with suggestions of how to live
but sacred commandments.
 God, through the prophet Jeremiah, has repeated, dire warnings for
all 'who walk after the imaginations of their hearts'





To live, to love and do our part
With strength and mind, to serve the Lord
Is no charge for the faint of heart
Or those impatient for reward

For oftentimes, what seems so small
On the grand scale of recompense
Is not what it appears at all
When trust chooses obedience

Rather than the darling appeal
Of ‘happiness’ that money buys
No glamorous façade, the zeal
That presses to the Greater Prize

…God has prepared for the Blest Meek
Who look beyond the god/laud of Self
To heed the commandment to seek

Who loathe the cunning Tempter bent
On preening false illusion’s sway/prey
With logic’s soothing argument

Where Imagination deceives
The proud with promised lands that blind
With sight, what faith alone perceives

Is not yet, but someday will be
Worth every (secret) tender mercy poured
Into vaults of eternity

© Janet Martin

Pride is a great enemy to obedience
And quite the cunning foe!

Pride comes in so many forms...
last month our church participated in a fund-raised
meal-pack through Lifeline.
When donating online, the default-setting for donations
is to publicly display the donation amount (why??)
Mortified, I realized too late, after a few corrections
that my 'private' setting had switched back to 'public'!
I contacted Lifeline to please switch it to 'private'
but I think they had more pressing concerns😅🙏
(and it was very hard on my 'pride' to simply let it go)
Pride is such a stinker and humility SO hard to get;
the minute we think we have it we've lost it!!😂

Jesus taught us to give like this...
Matt.6:4
But when you give to the needy, 
do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,



Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Preciously Aware...

 Happy November!



Today's is my mom's birthday!
Our annual daughter and daughter-in-law's tea-party
is planned for next week because today she is celebrating with her sisters!
A very precious awareness of Each Other growing dearer
with each passing year!

A reminder for each of us to be preciously aware of Each Other! 

Time’s wheel of hopes and dreams and cares and prayers spins round and round
The hill where morrow’s stairway gleams at daybreak runs aground
And if we are not careful, we could miss what is today
While gazing at a stair full of mist-vendors far away
For, what is on display, both groaned and grinned, soon disappears
Like autumn leaves, chased by the wind, to pathless yesteryears

The physique of a wish is always just beyond our reach
And often we fail to critique the longings we beseech
Fixating on one point because it seems, to raptured sighs
To be want-worthy, while its flaws are lost in starry eyes
Until wisdom esteems that sage advice from days of yore
Not all is as it seems, then be careful what you wish for’

As time goes by, I want for less, yet covet more, a heart
Of humbler thankfulness for what God’s kind mercies impart
I want to be determined, in love’s hold and letting go
To keep one ear tuned to a wind that always steals the show
Then not to mourn the past or fret at what ‘yet’ holds at bay
But to be preciously aware of what Time grants today

© Janet Martin

James 4:15
Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.”


Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Sacred Similes or Art-Accountability Awareness

Like a vast lake,
blush, blue and gold
unfolding overhead...

...where daybreak, like a threshold to pictures that dusk will seal
Ought first to be a blush-blue-golden altar where we kneel ...


Like canvases to sketch upon, Today is always new...


The art succeeding stretch-and-yawn is up to me and you
Where circumstance is but the scrim we splash with artistry...



Like a vast lake, blush, blue and gold unfolding overhead
Day breaks; and from yon welkin hold dawn’s fledgling wings are spread
Where, young and old alike embark, like a migrating surge
Of souls, pressing toward the mark of eternity’s verge
Where it is not made known to us how far the future splays
Until we tread the exodus of mist-like, numbered days

Like canvases to sketch upon, Today is always new
The art succeeding stretch-and-yawn is up to me and you
Where circumstance is but the scrim we splash with artistry
From mercy-granted trays that brim with opportunity
To sing a hymn, to breathe a prayer, to lend a helping hand
To be kind and humbly aware of time’s trickle of sand

Like a tree softly doffed of leaves, moment-momentum keens
The seed that grows into the sheaves that harvest-season gleans/weans
Like artists poised before pedestals as dawn hoists Today
We brush-daub-lob Originals that appear drawn away
But not forever; someday when our ‘painting-days’ are done
God will be the Appraiser, studying them, one by one

Oho, surely in light of this, there is no Commonplace
Each day is like a holy kiss from God, a gift of grace
Dawn’s debut, as it rends the air, propels eternity
Toward each one of us, bearing Soul’s immortality
Thus, whether young or old, before we start Art of Today
Not one of us should be so bold as to forget to pray

...where daybreak, like a threshold to pictures that dusk will seal
Ought first to be a blush-blue-golden altar where we kneel 
To thank God for His favours and to ask Him to direct
Where many tints and flavours taunt, flaunt, wink and interject
Then, beseech His whisper to wage, where brushstrokes heed command  
So all that remains on the page are imprints of His Hand
   
© Janet Martin

The trees are definitely being 'softly-doffed' today!



Today's post inspired in part by part of my morning Scripture reading...

Jer.17:5-10
This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
who draws strength from mere flesh
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.

7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

10 “I the Lord search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
according to what their deeds deserve.”

Also,
Partly by a line in the book The Irrational Season
by Madeleine L'Engle
"If you were arrested as a Christian, 
would there be enough
evidence against you to convict you?"

...and partly by an immense sense of standing on a fresh canvas of Time,
as I watched the sunrise unfolding

May You ask for and sense God's Hand over yours today!
Happy Painting!

Mine involves a scrub bucket and other
fall-cleaning essentials!
(like good music!)
Like this one!





Monday, October 30, 2023

Father In Heav'n (Yet Near Enough...)

Ps.9:1-2 &8- 9
(read the whole glorious chapter here)

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High...

...The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Oh how our hearts groan as we pray 
for cares close to home and far away...

(yet, oh so near!)

I began this poem bright and early but the New Furnace Installers arrived
bright and early as well!
And because the computer, where I write is right in the main living area
where they were constantly walking through
I decided to finish it after they finished, 
which turns out to be tonight!

This poem was inspired in part as the very familiar opening to The Lord's Prayer
filled me with fresh wonder!!



Father in Heav’n, (yet near enough to hear Thought’s heart-borne plea)
How oft, with reverence and love, through living’s high and low
We pour before Thy throne of grace, our praise and agony
There You restore our souls so we can face faith’s cunning foe
Where, without You vainly we grope for hope and comfort true
For, hopeless is all hope without the hope we find in You

Father in Heav’n, (yet near enough to catch a falling tear)
No circumstance transcends Your love that reconciles and saves
Goodness and mercy’s author, You tread on dread’s storms of fear
When doubt’s dark tempests bother, You rebuke its wind and waves
As, through the power of your Word You fit us for the day
Faithful and true, You undergird all who trust and obey

Father in Heav’n (yet near enough to be our constant Stay)
Your love, an everlasting love that calls us all by name
You came to seek the lost, for all like sheep have gone astray
And though you knew the cost you did no King’s exemption claim
But suffered in our stead the price, redemption’s crown to win
Once and for all, the sacrifice that broke the curse of sin

Father in Heav’n, (yet near enough to know our every need)
Deliver us from evil with Your love that will not fail
When we do not know how to pray, Lord, kindly intercede
Remind us, come whatever may, Your purpose will prevail
No enemy can intercept what love has overcome
Father in Heav’n, (yet near enough to lead us gently home)

Amen

© Janet Martin









Saturday, October 28, 2023

With All That God Makes Possible...

Happy final golden weekend of October, 2023


In autumn poetry tugs at the heart at every turn
awakening in us the same awe as it did in poets of old...

Psalm 8

 O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

You have set Your glory

above the heavens.

2From the mouths of children and infants

You have ordained praiseb

on account of Your adversaries,

to silence the enemy and avenger.

3When I behold Your heavens,

the work of Your fingers,

the moon and the stars,

which You have set in place—

4what is man that You are mindful of him,

or the son of man that You care for him?

5You made him a little lower than the angels;c

You crowned him with glory and honor.

6You made him ruler of the works of Your hands;

You have placed everything under his feet:d

7all sheep and oxen,

and even the beasts of the field,

8the birds of the air and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9O LORD, our Lord,

how majestic is Your name in all the earth!


If at all possible, allow yourself to pause from pressing care
To rest beneath the golden bough slowly but surely growing bare...



Look at the birds and breathe a prayer of thankfulness to He who tends
The creatures of land, sea and air with mercy’s gracious dividends...



If at all possible, delight in simple sight-and-sound of Leaf
Indulge desire’s appetite with wonders, momentous and brief...





If at all possible, allow yourself to pause from pressing care
To rest beneath the golden bough slowly but surely growing bare
Take time to hum a humble hymn of hope, happiness, peace and love
To take note of the gifts that brim from autumn’s dimming treasure trove

Look at the birds and breathe a prayer of thankfulness to He who tends
The creatures of land, sea and air with mercy’s gracious dividends
Now and then commit to ignore the rigid edict of tick-tock
Enjoy falls fading hues before they strew the yard and street and walk

If at all possible, delight in simple sight-and-sound of Leaf
Indulge desire’s appetite with wonders, momentous and brief
Enjoy the view, autumn-dawn pure; of no two days ever the same
Drawing us to our Farewell Tour back to the Hand from whence we came

Explore moments shucked from a sheaf that spills its grief in russet snow
As soft, the earth is tucked beneath a counterpane of Afterglow
If at all possible, allow Autumn’s glory to steal your breath
Before the gold and scarlet bough bears the stark evidence of death

Oh Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your great name in all the earth
From age to age, You light the wick that kindles worship's awestruck birth
For no mortal can grasp Your ways and thoughts, but should wholly contend 
With all that You make possible, to praise and praise You without end 

© Janet Martin

Explore moments shucked from a sheaf that spills its grief in russet snow
As soft, the earth is tucked beneath a counterpane of Afterglow...



If at all possible, allow Autumn’s glory to steal your breath...
Before the gold and scarlet bough bears the stark evidence of death...



Friday, October 27, 2023

Autumn Joys

 

A few snap-shots from the past few days that helped inspire this poem






The plush hush-hush of feet through leaves...



The plush hush-hush of feet through leaves
The stillness of fields shucked of sheaves
The way the wind through woodland weaves
A canopy of blue
The hurry-scurry, frisky squirrel
The leaf-cartwheel, the boy and girl
Imitating the lilt and twirl
Of treetop’s dwindling hue

Rain-rendered decoupage, wet-cold
Lanes and sidewalks paved with leaf-gold
A little mittened hand to hold
Or steaming cup ‘o joe
Gladness so profound the heart leaps
With praise for squash and pumpkin heaps
And all goodness man plants then reaps
As by God’s grace we go

The five-star bliss of five-star dreams
For five-star supper’s five-star beams
Of five-star happiness that gleams
In loved one’s smiles and eyes
Warmth of homecooked simplicity
And precious love of family
Kindles a thankful-as-can-be
Masterpiece-paradise

The undulating rise and fall
As landscapes pen a madrigal
That needs no words to say it all
Yet leaves spectators awed
By nature’s color-symphony
Spilling across the dimming lea
An autumn song we throng to see
Whose composer is God

© Janet Martin

Rain-rendered decoupage, wet-cold...


Lanes and sidewalks paved with leaf-gold...







Bat Not Thine Eye Lash at Thy Guilt...or, Earnest Plea


Reading through the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah kindles
much sober reflection and speechless awe
for the sure judgment and the abounding love and mercy of God



Brush not at sin, like lint on sleeves
To save everyone who believes

Rush not, bold-faced, into the day
Without reckoning He who grants
The morn its light; bow down and pray

Mock not, nor take in vain the Name
Above all names; but chastely fear
The One, whereby prophets proclaim

Let not imagination rule
In rebel disobedience
Approach today with reverence

Lest, poorly and blindly content
With pomp and show of Noble Thought
Thy deathless soul reaps hell’s lament/torment

Thy futile prayers when troubles groan
Fall on thy knees, repent, revere
The God of gods and God alone

For love, devoted to obey
He whose decrees are undeterred

Bat not thy eye at the grave rift
Each soul must ford ‘neath death’s cold knife

© Janet Martin




1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Panning For Autumn Gold or Because of Farewell's Winning Ways

 I want to learn the fine art of panning for autumn-gold...


To marvel at grand frescos etched on ceilings of thin air
Before time’s hand runs fingers through treetops silent and bare...




I want to learn the fine art of panning for autumn-gold
I want to try to taste more wonder than a heart can hold
I want to be tuned to the imminence of letting go
Because the winning way of farewell hides in each hello

I want to linger longer in a leaf-lit afternoon
To steep senses in flickers of woodland’s lofty festoon
To marvel at grand frescos etched on ceilings of thin air
Before time’s hand runs fingers through treetops silent and bare

I want to plan a dinner-date beneath fall’s canopy
Serenaded by minstrels tall and stately as can be
To discover the treasure in the fine measure of Now
And not postpone the pleasure of the fleeting autumn bough

I want to make the most of what no sleight of can tame
To try each flying live-learn-love, where Past has staked it claim
To take more precious time to pause where Was is always chief
Where winsome, winning ways of farewell fret in every leaf

© Janet Martin

I want to plan a dinner-date beneath fall’s canopy
Serenaded by minstrels tall and stately as can be...