An Easter Exaltation Hymn

 The song below is an Easter Tradition on this blog.

Join in this hymn and worship Him for 

He is not here but is risen!

 Matt.28:9

Trade your tears for exultation

Join the charge angels employ

Worship the God of salvation

Turn your grief to songs of joy

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven

Join creation with each breath

Gone the curse that ended Eden

Jesus triumphs over Death

Let the Love of He who loved us

Enough to offer His Son

To be sin’s sacrifice for us

Stir our love for everyone

Jesus lives; man’s sin forgiven

Broke the bondage of the grave

Saviour of the World is risen

Praise the One who came to save

“It is finished” ends His mission

Resurrection proves His Might

Turns the Hour of contrition

Into victory and Light

Trade your tears for exaltation

Join the charge angels employ

Worship the God of salvation

Turn your life to songs of joy

© Janet Martin

Dark Days...

 
fineartamerica.com

The empty cross stuns His beloved

Sadly they turn away

Grief-stricken, shocked, homeward they trod

With nothing left to say

Their Lord and Master crucified

Before their very eyes

Then taken to the tomb where guards

Protect their ‘lifeless prize’

And did his followers replay

Yesterday’s hate-mad hours

And wonder why He held at bay

His miracle-rife powers

So much they do not understand

So much they can’t explain

Did they mistake the words He said?

Did they believe in vain?

Duty and love bid them begin

The tender tasks of death

The spices for the body and

Tears mingled with each breath…

© Janet Martin

Piercing The Fiercest Dark...

 PAD Challenge day 20; For today’s prompt, write a dark poem. 

How brief the leaf of lilt and rhyme

If it feeds nothing more than Time...

How dull the tug and pull of heart

If it feels nothing more than art

What good the blood of poet’s pen

What merit its cajole

If not to rouse the thoughts of men

To Jot’s Ultimate Goal

How futile Fancy’s flares of ink

-lit worlds beneath our skin

If not to stir Him-Her to think

About the soul within

How vain the pain of poem-birth

A vixen and a fraud

If not to fill heaven and earth

With love and awe of God

How trite the blighted swirl and arc

Of alphabetic flight

If not to pierce the fiercest dark

With Love’s poetic Light

 

© Janet Martin

The Darkest Darkness of All

PAD Challenge day 20; For today’s prompt, write a dark poem. 

This was not a fun poem to write!

Oh, the darkest darkness of all is surely Spiritual Darkness

where Satan who has vowed vengeance through seduction of souls, rules.

Below, an excerpt from John Milton's Epic; Paradise Lost As Satan sees his fate...

Ah, cup of sorrow’s bitter draught

Ah, darkness of hope lost

Ah, longing for those days we laughed

Before the Door was locked

Ah, dread that weighs the heart with fear

Ah, fear, dark screams its cries

Ah, cold and comfortless the tear

That none can cheer with lies

Ah, darkness of eternity

Where demon-hordes applaud

As Soul meets death’s calamity

Unprepared to meet God

© Janet Martin

 
John 3:19
And this is the verdict:
The Light has come into the world,
but men loved the darkness rather than the Light,
because their deeds were evil.

John 8:12
When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said,

 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

 but will have the light of life."

John 12:35
Then Jesus told them, "For a little while longer, the Light will be among you. 

Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you.

 The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.

License to Live #2

PAD challenge day 19: For today’s prompt, write a license poem.

Wild as the rivers rush sea-ward

Mild as the coo of a dove

True as the blue in high heavens

Spirals life’s license to love

Strong as the rock and bluff shoreline

Long as lost yesterday’s wing

Wide as the wind strums the prairie

Surges life’s license to sing

Calm as the crest of day dawning

Red as the rose of romance

Sweet as the music of laughter

Trickles life’s license to dance

Soft as the skin of a baby

Hard as the hurdles of hope

Smooth as the crooner of seasons

Beckons life’s license to cope

Kind as the kiss of a mother

Harsh as the crow’s raucous call

Bold as a school boy with hunger

Lingers life’s license to fall

© Janet Martin