Friday, May 3, 2019

Learning's Work of Art (Version 1&2)


 Every so often I'm struck anew by the one thing we all have deeply in common;
our need for God's grace, and through that, more patience with each other!
. We are all broken, still-learning students!


(sorry, no photos)
internet is still not working well!


Version #1

Ah, Time plays tricks, it seems, and eases us from who we were
Whilst testing touch with lessons we are not quite ready for
Where the bare facts of yearning meet with human hand and heart
Shaping time’s no returning into Learning’s works of art

How readily the rush of moments runs through sound and sight
Each morning’s new how-do-you-do soon turns into good-night
As pomp and show of what we know (or thought we did) aha
Keeps students of life on their toes while subject to Time’s law

Then pray for love, the fool-proof, full proof of God’s Light/might within
To steer Thought’s powerhouse, the rudder for man’s flint of skin
Where Choice molds clay of day-to-day and yea-and-nay into
The life we live and leave behind when daily-grind is through

...where given Time enough we sift through shards of having held
Where felled castles of past’s postcards and hard mistakes, soft-meld
With happiness, that we confess, is not a Thing we clutch
But a heart full of thankfulness in spite of ‘such-and-such’

Ah, who can bear to shoulder care without the love of God
To fill this glove of flesh and blood and Soul and leave us awed
With the sacred awareness, that for all we should’ve/could’ve done
Grace rewards us with hope through love’s free gift; God’s only Son

Thus, all the ‘tricks’ that Time may play will never be enough
To steal the joy of life away; nothing can out-fox love
For love is kind and patient, not self-seeking, greedy, proud
Then, when we learn this Work of Heart it makes us laugh out loud

…and live without the fear of what-if’s weight to paralyze
…and give without the leer of greed to shackle us with lies
…and sing without a Thing to hold us back because we’ve learned
God’s Love, from the beginning is a gift no one has earned

© Janet Martin

 (version #2; order of stanzas reversed)


…then, live without the fear of what-if’s weight to paralyze
…and give without the leer of greed to shackle us with lies
…and sing without a Thing to hold us back because we’ve learned
God’s Love, from the beginning is a gift no one has earned

Thus, all the ‘tricks’ that Time may play will never be enough
To steal the joy of life away; nothing can out-fox love
For love is kind and patient, not self-seeking, greedy, proud
Then, when we learn this Work of Heart it makes us laugh out loud
 
Ah, who can bear to shoulder care without the love of God
To fill this glove of flesh and blood and Soul and leave us awed
With the sacred awareness, that for all we should’ve/could’ve done
Grace rewards us with hope through love’s free gift; God’s only Son

...where given Time enough we sift through shards of having held
Where felled castles of past’s postcards and hard mistakes, soft-meld
With happiness, that we confess, is not a Thing we clutch
But a heart full of thankfulness in spite of ‘such-and-such’

Then pray for love, the fool-proof, full proof of God’s Light/might within
To steer Thought’s powerhouse, the rudder for man’s flint of skin
Where Choice molds clay of day-to-day and yea-and-nay into
The life we live and leave behind when daily-grind is through

How readily the rush of moments runs through sound and sight
Each morning’s new how-do-you-do soon turns into good-night
As pomp and show of what we know (or thought we did) aha
Keeps students of life on their toes while subject to Time’s law

Ah, Time plays tricks, it seems, and eases us from who we were
Whilst testing touch with lessons we are not quite ready for
Where the bare facts of yearning meet with human hand and heart
Shaping time’s no returning into Learning’s works of art

 © Janet Martin


Ah, April


Sorry for the unplanned hiatus!
Our internet is  'half' back.

It's blinking on and off while I'm trying to post this 
so if silence returns to the Porch that's why...
Here is a poem I wrote to bid April farewell




Ah, when we met you wore a threadbare robe of russet-gray
Now, when we part, your garb of green nigh-steals my breath away
Somewhere, my dear, between hello and farewell’s beating wing
You broke the seal that held at bay the bud bursting with spring

Ah, you were such a weather-beaten beggar when you came
Now heads are turning, hearts are burning with hope’s flower-fame
Ah, April, seems that you deserve more credit than you get
Where your ground-breaking, soul-awakening is wild and wet

Ah, artist’s overlook you in their ‘Magnus Opus’ Quest
But there is something about you that outshines all the rest
Where, dressed in modest Duty, kind, you tend to nature’s tasks
Showcasing spring’s stark Beauty before blossom breaks bud’s flasks

Ah, April, you’re a looker, in case no one tells you so
I fall in love with you and could not bear to see you go
Save for the flora-bundance poised like joy-banners unfurled
Because of you, the trail-blazer to every summer’s world

© Janet Martin



Sunday, April 28, 2019

For Faith's Fortune-Seekers




Before us, to The Prize, unclaimed
Faith fixes humble eyes
Where Hope will never make ashamed
And God’s Truth never lies

The barrier twixt here and there
Is not an easy climb
Where warriors don Word and prayer
To carry them through Time

Because the fortunes that we see
Are nothing more than dust
And loving it is enmity
To God, in whom we trust

Who was before the world began
Who evermore will be
Who fathered mercy’s precious plan
For lost humanity

Then Lord, forbid that we forget
But rather, fix our eyes
Upon the Everlasting Yet
Of love’s eternal Prize

© Janet Martin

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust destroy
and thieves break in and steal.
but rather, lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven
where neither moth or rust destroys and where
thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure,
there will your heart be also.

Matthew 6:19-21



Saturday, April 27, 2019

The 'Wait' Weight

Grand-daughter is already 4 weeks old, 
while a month ago we were anxiously/eagerly waiting to meet her!

(some small endearments...one dimple in her right cheek 
and she only wrinkles the left side of her forehead, 
and she LOVES being rocked!)


Right now, in this province, waiting for spring is everyone's common ground!


On a personal note I'm still waiting for someone to fix our internet issues.
It flicks on for a minute then it's gone and I have to wait for it to reboot
(or whatever it does.)
I have re-discovered a whole new-old way of life this week...
 a paper dictionary,
... a cook-book,
 work-out DVDs,
...no weather-forecast updates
... a telephone! (can sometimes see my e-mails but can't reply!)
...and last but not least, a record-player 
since we have no working cd or cassette player...
(or no music which means listening to my rusty singing voice :-/



‘Wait’ is a weight that can wear patience thin
‘Wait’ means the gate is still barred
‘Wait’ tries the trust we must muster within
‘Wait’ even when it is hard

‘Wait’ wafts in whispers of worlds held at bay
‘Wait’ is the bud full of flow’r
‘Wait’ is a word that teaches us to pray
‘Wait’ is a long-winded hour

‘Wait’ tests the will of the woman, man, child
‘Wait’ is not ‘yes, dear' or ‘nope’
‘Wait’ is an order that can drive us wild
‘Wait’ is the foothold of hope

‘Wait’ is the prelude to ‘if’, ‘then’ and ‘when’
‘Wait’ for the good of the ‘want’
‘Wait’ is the ship that has still not come in
‘Wait’ is an internal taunt

‘Wait’ is the lad wishing to be six
‘Wait’ is the babe before birth
‘Wait’ is a sleeve full of endless tricks
‘Wait’ is the way of this earth

© Janet Martin

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage,
and he shall strengthen thine heart:
wait, I say, on the LORD.
Psalm 27:14

While Staying True...

Love is not about staying true to ourselves but to God.
When we stay true to God, we stay true to the person He created us to be!
Doesn't this fill you with peace and relieve us of much needless fretting?!
If we just stay true to ourselves our pride is injured over and over!
If we stay true to God He helps us weather the 'weather' whether we like it or not!



Staying true, (not to ourselves) but to He who made us
Requires dedication as we forge from here to There
So often what we wait for is not what we thought it was
Thus we need more to live for than Time’s Temporary Care

While staying true to principles laid out in The Good Book
We learn that being true to ourselves is not divine
Thus, we should often ponder the Compassion that it took
As He who loves us so, wept ‘Father, not my will but thine”

While staying true to more than ‘points of view’ on that and this
We become more aware of He whose law is peace and love
Then we are not so easily offended by What Is
Knowing The Hope we fix faith on will be more than enough

While staying true to He who loves us all we should be kind
And find ways to forgive above the law of Duty’s Call
For soon the shell that Soul inhabits will be left behind
And we will see why staying true to God was worth it all

© Janet Martin



1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. 
And His commandments are not burdensome,