Fist Full of Petals or A World of Ink

 What is your life? 

You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

James 4:14

Poised on the brink of Bygone beneath dawn’s pink canopy

We touch unbroken ground of endless possibility

The avenue that courses through a flue of stars and dust

Is like Past’s oeuvre laden with hope’s fresh matters of trust

Where settled on a canvas woven with nettles and gauze

The tug that tests the mettle of the man begins its cause

If we are wise we recognize the prize beneath the bow

How melodies we miss were played on strings of here and now

How even when the notes we thought would blend startle the heart

With dissonance, yet, looking back they played a vital part

Of teaching us to cherish what will perish with the night

Ah, Time is like a lad with a voracious appetite   

The poet pleads for patience where the skyline inkwells bleed

And Duty hoists its banner beneath orders to proceed

Where one or fifty poems less not many seem to mind

And never balk against a bridle woven with love’s grind

That steals away the hours like a grand hibiscus-bloom

No matter how delightful, dusk insists upon its plume

Where a fist full of petals none can affix to the stem

Today is like a flower that will never bloom again

The agony of letting go would not exist, my dear

Without the joy that always precedes farewell’s tender tear

Where on the eastward brink, pastel pink efflorescence slips

From a fresh bud; a world of ink teases our fingertips

© Janet Martin

Treasure-Brunt

Little girl's mommy has a birthday today!

So we baked something extra-special; 

Butter tarts

Make and cut your favorite pastry

press into pans

Filling :

and because one of the moms I used to babysit for has a birthday today as well
I doubled the batch of tarts and shared with both of them this piece of my heart...

The years fly by while you and I suffer its smiles and tears

Feeling like passengers on floats Father Time commandeers

Where seasons weave then leave behind a strange, surreal parade

Of scenes and echoes intertwined from memories we made

The brunt of here and now will soon soften its virile grasp

And gather days together like threads knitted into Past

So we cannot afford to miss what slips through us like air

Love’s fist-a-cuff, kiss, grins and groans of triumph and despair

Sometimes we scold time’s hurried way that chases boys and girls

Its wink vexes the heart with art soon strewed like scattered pearls

Yet as we chide this brazen thief it gives our hearts a lift

To recognize the irony; each birthday is a gift

Aha, the Hand that takes extends the mercies that we raid

Chins dripping with the holiness of love and life’s crusade

Where with the common flux of steady, simple tick and tock

Moment-jewels fill treasure-vaults that no key can unlock

© Janet Martin

Like a Love-letter From God

Tender splendour rends the regions Mercy’s mentor mediates

Dimming midnight’s starry legions with the light Love orchestrates

Grace extends hope’s salutation where Time ebbs with sober toll

Sustaining the invitation to address the deathless soul

Hail, the Hand that sealed man’s pardon not withholding his own Son

Suffering death’s bitter guerdon for the sins of everyone

Hail the one who interceded when Abraham obeyed He

Who would offer His Son Jesus on the cross of Calvary

Love groans with atoning power where deception’s lies run bold

While Heaven counts down the Hour when all nations will Behold

Look! Compassion’s rose-gold raiment bathes the breadth of sea and sod

Look, where Mercy suspends Judgement like a love-letter from God

© Janet Martin

"It is not the throne of judgement yet, we still approach the throne of grace",
our pastor tenderly entreated/reminded us on Sunday
in this message...Challenge; don't be immature

Gen.22:1-14

 Some time later God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he answered.

2“Take your son,” God said, “your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.”

3So Abraham got up early the next morning, saddled his donkey, and took along two of his servants and his son Isaac. He split the wood for a burnt offering and set out for the place God had designated.

4On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5“Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told his servants. “The boy and I will go over there to worship, and then we will return to you.”

6Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac. He himself carried the fire and the sacrificial knife, and the two of them walked on together.

7Then Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!”

“Here I am, my son,” he replied.

“The fire and the wood are here,” said Isaac, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

8Abraham answered, “God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two walked on together.

9When they arrived at the place God had designated, Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood. He bound his son Isaac and placed him on the altar, atop the wood. 10Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

The LORD Provides the Sacrifice

11Just then, the angela of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”

“Here I am,” he replied.

12“Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him,” said the angel, “for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from me.b ”

13Then Abraham looked up and saw behind him a ramc in a thicket, caught by its horns. So he went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14And Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. So to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.” 

Luke 23:33-46

 When they came to the place called The Skull,d they crucified Him there, along with the criminals, one on His right and the other on His left.

34Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”e And they divided up His garments by casting lots.f

35The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”g

36The soldiers also mocked Him and came up to offer Him sour wine.h 37“If You are the King of the Jews,” they said, “save Yourself!”

38Above Him was posted an inscription:i

THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

39One of the criminals who hung there heaped abuse on Him. “Are You not the Christ?” he said. “Save Yourself and us!”

40But the other one rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same judgment? 41We are punished justly, for we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.” 42Then he said, “Jesus, remember mej when You come into Your kingdom!”

43And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

 

The Death of Jesus
(Psalm 31:1-24; Matthew 27:45-56; Mark 15:33-41; John 19:28-30)

44It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour.k 45The sun was darkened,l and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.

46Then Jesus called out in a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My Spirit.”m And when He had said this, He breathed His last.

Balance-beams of Beauty and Happiness

The wrong and right of choice compels keen conscience to beware

Where height and light of hope dispels the dark depths of despair

The shawl of self-pity we clutch can turn into a noose

The fall that follows pride and such leaves egos less footloose

Longing can drain wishing-wells dry if we forget to pray

Sometimes the tear that dims the eye washes the cloud away

How subtle is the certain sum that habits will ingrain

The way we are is the outcome of thoughts we entertain

Hard to feel crappy if we concentrate on thankfulness

To make others happy is the secret to happiness

…and happiness if often noisy, messy, sticky, sweet

A room where boys and girls dash through with dream-worlds in their feet

Richer are we content with less than much wanting for more

Where without words we all confess who we are living for

Where without human kindness nothing else is worth our while

And beauty is its finest in the showcase of a smile

© Janet Martin

Celebrating Steppingstones

Let’s celebrate today;

Hope’s charger heaped anew

Let's fill the frame of come-what-may

With best-that-we-can-do

Let’s make the most of love

Before That Gavel falls

And dust and ashes fill a trove

Of echo-tattooed halls

Let’s use what mercy loans

With prayerful, careful thought

And recognize time’s stepping-stones

For all that they are not

…not aimless aftermath

Of want’s abandoned whim

This gift from God forges the path

That draws us back to Him

Where He never forsakes

Us, for He loves us so

Let’s use today to celebrate

His grace whereby we go

Let’s trust without reserve

God keeps His promises

And does not give what we deserve

Mercy delights to bless

Before it is too late

To cherish what is gone

Let’s use today to celebrate

Another steppingstone

© Janet Martin

 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Phil.4:13