Friday, August 23, 2019

A Very Big Matter In A Very Little Cup


I wrote the first four lines before Little Girl arrived early this morning... 
Tonight the poem veered slightly off dawn's dew and mist-smitten track😐
...but oh, what a gorgeous track it was.

 In first light earth gleamed like a silver tray till the sun broke through 
and bathed each dew-slathered blade in gold




 Only God could design such detailed magnificence!

From dawn’s belfry starred beauty tolls fresh goals of hope and pray
Light peals down boulevards, through quiet yards, across the bay
Where none of us are overlooked in mercy’s spending-spree
And plethora of choices where grace remains, full and free

Belief, the chief employer of the way the heart is led
Is no fair-weather joyride till the thrill of it is dead
But it becomes the benchmark for all else that we achieve
Where choice without a word voices much of what we believe

…where morn beams mercy’s beacon over good and evil’s clan
And does not scorn the fickleness of Very Little Man
Into a the world that hosts the turmoil of doubt’s prideful ways
God grants to humankind free will; while truth abides unfazed

No one can force belief or love; its discourse starts within
And stirs a monumental charge in puny gloves of skin
Where love begets belief, nay, or does belief beget love?
Where faith and love in man alone can never be enough

Belief, ah, who can flee it; even unbelief believes
And dares to refute boldly what this unbelief receives
Where Truth, ah Steadfast Truth is not threatened by mortal drift
But is the very Essence of the Rock that will not shift

The gift of choice; ah, what an awesome undertaking, this
To choose heaven or hell (there is no in-between abyss)
But God, so rich in mercy gave to humankind The Choice
And placed within each cup of skin the whisper of His Voice

© Janet Martin

Little Girl sometimes throws a tantrum when Baby-sitter doesn't bow to her command!
Sometimes Little Man does the same to God!

The Peril of Unbelief...Hebrews 3:12-19

See to it, brothers, that none of you has a wicked heart of unbelief 
that turns away from the living God. 
But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today,
 so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.
We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly 
to the end the assurance we had at first. 

As it has been said:
“Today, if you hear His voice,
do not harden your hearts,
as you did in the rebellion.”

For who were the ones who heard and rebelled? 
Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
And with whom was God angry for forty years? 
Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?
And to whom did He swear that they would never enter His rest? 
Was it not to those who disobeyed?
So we see that it was because of their unbelief that they were unable to enter.


And oh, look at who is depending on us to teach them Truth?!



August is a Ballerina...






August is a ballerina
Summer poised in arabesque
Prelude to September's Prima-
Donna's jazzy, bold burlesque 

August, sweet, sun-warm and mellow
Smooth as alto saxophone
Prelude to September's cello
And October's bass trombone

Janet~


 



End-of-August Arabesque






The sky is like a sapphire flask
The air is like fine wine
The hill, a place where dreamers bask
In August’s mulled sunshine

The purple aster steals our breath
Death dons a stunning veil
In wild-flower enchanted heath
And harvest’s stubble-braille

The garden strikes a tender chord
With gourds and spuds and corn
In melodies zealously stored
To wake some winter’s morn

The earth accepts its musky crown
Where sense of summer blurs
In apple orchards bending down
With autumn overtures

© Janet Martin


Thursday, August 22, 2019

Standing Still


 My brother was laughing as he pulled up beside my vehicle
on the shoulder of the road a few hundred feet from my driveway, with my arm out the window 
to snag a photo or ten. "it's just so beautiful I can't help it! I laughed
 and he said "yeah, you almost make me wanna take one!"
 (and all the way to town it was drive, pull over click, drive pull over click!)

We had a stunning sky-buffet all day today!










 Sometimes we just have to stop and look... twice!

Then look, before that subtle door swings shut on hinges with soft ease
The luring sky is pure azure where soundless schooners sail its seas
Its boundless sweep leaps above earth and dwarfs the rolling field and hill
And makes me walk a little slower until I am standing still

Then listen where wind minstrels strum the musky strings of brome and sage
Where sleepless cricket-choirs turn entire earth into a stage
Where something in the air invites us to slow down and take a seat
And make the most where hours drip like flower-petals ‘neath our feet

© Janet Martin

With Hug and Tug


 Happy 25th Birthday, Melissa...
 You are brave, beautiful and strong!
Keep shining in your God-given strengths, my dear
and see where He takes you!
 



With hug and tug of heart and soul
With tick and tock of clock cajole
With learning how to climb and fall
Brush off hurt’s dirt and stand up tall
And dream new dreams and surf Past’s graves
Where seasons surge then break like waves
On shorelines starred with hard-fought dust
That teems with echoes of scarred trust
While we let go yet learn to hold
Hope’s holy hunger, raw and bold
And brave and beautiful and dear
Thankful that God is always near
To hear our prayers; His promises
Will never fail; He unveils 'Yes'
In His own Time in His own way
So, rise and shine and seize the day
God is with us in all we face
Dawn's skyline breaks with lakes of grace
Where Mercy's New enfolds the old
In work to do and hands to hold
With hug and tug of heart and soul
With click and lock of clock-cajole
Where every step-breath-wink and nod
Does not escape the love of God

 with all my love,
Mom

© Janet Martin

Often I just pick out verses 5&6 from this passage for cards but there is
some real beauty before and after those two verses as well!

 Prov.3:1-8 (BSB) Berean Study Bible


My son(daughter), do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
for they will add length to your days,
years and peace to your life.
Never let loving devotion or faithfulness leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will find favor and high regard
in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him,
and He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
This will bring healing to your body
and refreshment to your bones.