Sunday, February 17, 2013

Of Morning Mercy-streams





He rends the veil of night with mercy-beams
We gaze in awe at heaven’s kiss imbued
From yonder darkened portal where love streams
From mystic deep in Morning-magnitude

Across the earth His tender grace imparts
The promise of compassion’s faithfulness
As He inspires weary, fainting hearts
Beneath the glory of dawn’s gleaming tress

As surely as the little bird is fed
As surely as the flower fills the seed
He cares for us; He is our living Bread
His touch sustaining our utter need

He rends the veil of night with mercy-beams
From yonder darkened portal His love streams

© Janet Martin
 
1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. 2 Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the great King. 3 God is known in her palaces for a refuge. 4 For, lo, the kings were assembled , they passed by together. 5 They saw it, and so they marveled ; they were troubled , and hasted away . 6 Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail . 7 Thou breakest the ships of Tarshish with an east wind. 8 As we have heard , so have we seen in the city of the LORD of hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish it for ever. Selah. 9 We have thought of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. 10 According to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of righteousness. 11 Let mount Zion rejoice , let the daughters of Judah be glad , because of thy judgments. 12 Walk about Zion, and go round about her: tell the towers thereof. 13 Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces; that ye may tell it to the generation following. 14 For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death. Ps. 48.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Intangible Touch




I have been kissed
Not of lips
I have been touched
Not of skin
And I have felt those finger-tips
Ravage, caress
A world within

***

The utterance of wordless thought
Traverses eons obscurely
Yet keens the pen, jot upon jot
Touching the page in poetry

***

To quell the trembling of its touch
Would be to still the surging sea
Or quench the intangible rush
Rousing the want of life in me

***

Yes, I have been kissed
Not of lips
And I have been touched
Not of skin
The climax of a moment
Spills in heart-beats
Whisper-thin
 
J~

Unquenchable Fulfillment



 

How well the thought of you fits into me
To afflict and caress; love’s sweet alloy
For though it bears all things, its harmony
Is surely the climax of grief and joy

The superficial want of kings and things
The dissonance of mortal have-and-hold
Swarms, ravaging the barracks deep within
Yet cannot dismantle love’s tender hold

Its equilibrium, a mystery
Though fiends may howl and daring tempests scream
They cannot wrench the thought of you from me
Or mute the melody of love’s requiem

For oh, how perfectly the thought of you
Melts into every space that want would drench
If not for pigments of unfathomed blue
Sweeping a shore that oceans cannot quench
  
J~

Friday, February 15, 2013

The ABC's of Life




If we have taught them how to be
Astronauts or
Bridge-builders or
Composers or
Doctors or
Engineers or
Farmers or
Governors or
Home-makers or
Intellects or
Judges or
Kings or
Landscapers or
Mothers or
Nurses or
Optometrists or
Presidents or
Queens or
Receptionists or
Scientists or
Teachers or
Undertakers or
Veterinarians or
Writers or
X-ray technicians or
Yoga instructors or
Zoo-keepers
…without first teaching the love of God
We have failed.

© Janet Martin

The devotion I read this morning reminded us how important it is that we, as parents reflect the love of God.







Mr. February





Though you may stand
Inches beneath
Your limber peers
You startle placid
Bystanders
With bully howls and jeers

And while you tug
The daylight hour
Into the twilight blue
We slip and slide
And huff and puff
Against your cheerless hue

And though you boast
The day of hearts
And chocolate-flavored bliss
We do not fall
In love with your
Icy, obnoxious kiss

For what you lack in size
Or flair
You pack in blustered punch
While we peer
Through ice-lace fretwork
And pour hot soup for lunch

© Janet Martin



What is It?





What is this awesome thing I see
Breaking through yonder scrim?
Gleaming with opportunity
A wondrous, wordless hymn

What is this tender gift of grace
Bestowed in spite of we
Who often thoughtlessly embrace
Its virgin purity?

Oh pray, what is this glorious gift
Pushing dark folds away
In mercy-streams; oh what is it?
Why, it is a new day

© Janet Martin

It is wrapped in blue-gray today! Land and sky...

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Love ABC's (a re-post)

 
What if, instead of
Assuming and
Begrudging and
Criticizing and
Doubting and
Envying and
Fault-finding and
Gossiping and
Hating and
Insulting and
Judging and
Knocking and
Lusting and
Meddling and
Nagging and
Obsessing and
Pointing and
Quarreling and
Ranting and
Slighting and
Tearing down and
Unpleasantness and
Violence and
War and
X-cessivness and
Yelling and
Zero-patience…
…we just loved?

Where the Rubber Meets the Road

 

They don't complain
Supper on red
Enjoyed
Chocolate relished
thoroughly
As they discussed life
and everything we've never done
They didn't see my heart
Lying on the table

There is an ocean secured
by dikes of flesh and prayer
Because only God knows
the truth
of quiet sorrows
that we bear

While love works so very hard
to put our food on the table
And we all know
Love
does the best
it is able 

...half-way across the country
eighteen wheels and love
turn toward 'trying to be home
by noon'
on Saturday

Janet Martin

I like this song because I can relate to these words so well.
'it's not fancy but it works'


Matt got a huge chuckle out of 'granola hearts'. He knows his mom is an oatmeal junkie:) ...and he beat me to 'I love you' when he saw the chocolate suckers, knowing it would 'win' him one...it did.