Age-old New

 this poem was inspired in part by 'the age-old New' aka morning

New day like a sky wide duvet of blush and blue and gold, unfolds

Above earth’s trench-and-trove tableau bursting with what the future holds

The loom that weaves lifetimes resumes its subtle dismantling of youth

Doubt and deception’s clout still the bold, uncouth archrivals of truth

Desire and duty aspire, conspire, compose reply

While pardon cradles gardens and gutters and stutters of oh-my

...either to He who orchestrates the sky-wide Gates of day and night

Or to lesser gods, frauds with an insatiable appetite

Once more the day the Lord has made is laden with bitter and sweet

Morn’s mantle soon trampled and torn by the plunder of hands and feet

Soft as a featherdown duvet wafting aloft, dawn’s first burst fades

Into the noise of grief and joy’s brief and boisterous escapades

Time’s climes, where nursery rhymes, sun-bonnets, sonnets, hymns and scars accrue

Unfold landscapes where echoes traipse while wonder gapes at age-old New

© Janet Martin

It was also inspired by a new, old nursery-rhyme book...

...because this grandmother just can't seem to resist 

Mother Goose and her silly, sweet, and sometimes

slightly shocking entourage!  😅💛

And after all, isn't Mother Goose like Winnie the Pooh?

For children of all ages??

(the artists all seem to have their personal gift/style of whimsy)

World-full-o'

The pleasure of the win...

The swirl and twirl with youth...

The sparkle of the child

The wizened crown of years...

The silence more pronounced

In woodland's leafless tolls

The pleasure of the win

 The sting of defeat's blow

The sense of springtime waltzing in

On a world full of snow

The swirl and twirl with youth

That ruthless hands estrange

The resolute bulwark of truth

In a world full of change

The sparkle of a child

The wizened crown of years

The laughter when sheer joy runs wild

In a world full of tears

Love's proof by how we live

Where so much is at stake

The kind and tender touch of 'give'

In a world full of  'take'

The secret second mile

The mother's earnest prayer 

The sunshine of a simple smile

In a world full of care

The season swiftly spent

The scarred, prayer-pounded Gate

Hearts, hounded with longing’s lament

In a world full of ‘wait’

The silence more pronounced

In woodland’s leafless tolls

Or where death steps in unannounced

In a world full of souls

The ‘nope’ of dreamer’s/pray-er's rue

The ‘dead seed’ in the sod

The hope that nothing can undo

In a world full of God

© Janet Martin

Very truly I tell you, 

unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, 

it remains only a single seed. 

But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

 John 12:24

The Terminal Temporal

Rom.3:23

For the wages of sin is death, 

but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Rom.6:1

What shall we say then? 

Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

  2Certainly not! 

How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

A solemn tone to today's train of think-ink...

It is impossible to repent and continue living in sin!

As humans we all sin, yes, 

but that is not the same as living in sin.

 For every tree is known by its own fruit...

Luke 6:44

Jesus didn't die to save us so we could continue living in sin.

Jesus came to earth to die and rise again,

 to save us from our sins

Truth is not altered by our denial of its facts;

Truth IS!

Truth is its own Absolute! Hallelujah!

(That's what makes Him/it trustworthy)

Today's solemn splendor spilled 

in a temporary tracery of white!

Today in solemn splendor spills from He, worthy of all our praise

This is no flippant grant He wills to fulfill mortal’s numbered days

Sovereign God lends the lease that bends with choice wedded with consequence

The bedrock of His Truth transcends time’s brief exploits of Preference

As through The Temporal we pass like lightning in an hourglass

Today, in gracious grandeur gleams like a pendent of hope and grace

With faithful fervor Mercy streams from Holy God to human race

Battlegrounds of hunger and thirst weather war-cries of pride and lust

While the deathless soul is immersed in apparel of dust-to-dust

And Temporal we behold will soon melt like mist upon a hill

Today, in precious promise pours from a Presence that is not moved

Though, by and large the world ignores Him; this by bold disregard proved

Where His Word is not hidden in the heart so that we do not err

Where conscience is not stricken by sin that entered in unaware

While The Temporal lulls asleep those who no earnest vigil keep

Today, in kind compassion brims from He who, oft misunderstood

Abides, worthy of worship’s hymns for He is trustworthy and good

And never makes mistakes; He takes the broken pieces we release

And from repentance He reshapes dashed shards into a masterpiece

And tunes us to the Temporal, that, tick by tock unveils the Whole

Today in solemn splendor spills and refills smorgasbords with Choice

A free-for-all that soon reveals whether we heed that Still, Small Voice 

This is no flippant grant God wills to the Soul's temporary cape

It is a gift; a gift that drills us with temptation and Escape

Before the Temporal gives way to never-ending night or day 

© Janet Martin

2 Cor.4:18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen,

 since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

“But of that day and hour no one knows,

 not even the angels in heaven,

 nor the Son, but only the Father. 

 Take heed, watch and pray; 

for you do not know when the time is. 

 It is like a man going to a far country, 

who left his house and gave authority

 to his servants, and to each his work, 

and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. 

 Watch therefore, for you do not know 

when the master of the house is coming—

in the evening, 

at midnight, 

at the crowing of the rooster, 

or in the morning— 

 lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. 

 And what I say to you, I say to all: 

Watch!”

Mark 13:32-37

The Perfect Why

Every single who-what-where-when-how

is subject to the Same, sacred, universal Why?

Wishing you a glorious weekend of awareness

of the Perfect Why

In all the ‘doing’ that we do

And all the blessings we applaud

And all the wonders that we view

That rouse ‘wows’ most emphatic nod

In all the triumphs that we toast

And all the offerings we bring

And all the bounty that we boast

And all the praises that we sing

And all accomplishments that thrill

And all pursuits still on the go 

And all the ledgers that we fill

To document their status quo

In all our suffering and pain

In all the valleys, dark and deep

And all the prayers that seem in vain

No matter how we plead and weep

In all the honors that we hail

And all the goodness-es we laud

In all our best efforts, we fail

Till we give all glory to God

© Janet Martin

1 Cor.10:31

Therefore, whether you eat or drink,

 or whatever you do,

 do all to the glory of God.

All In This Together

(Oh!! as I worked on this post I realized those first few flakes were but the prelude...)

This morning we return to a more monochromatic canvas

after, for 2023, a record-breaking three mornings in a row

of marmalade-hued morn!

We are all in this together

Universal farandole

Until God unties the tether

Twixt the body and the soul

From first breath we start to weather

Mankind’s fundamental plight

Where we, all in this together

All are precious in God’s sight

Sometimes we don’t treat each other

Quite as kindly as could be

Where we, all in this together

Are like a big family

Time wafts like a silver feather

Morn spills in marmalade hue

To we, still in this together

Not yet severed by death’s due

Then let us love one another

Before pray, it is too late

For we, all in this together

Are approaching Farewell’s Gate

What a gift it is to weather

Life together, by God's grace

Before He unties the tether

Twixt our bodies and His face

What a lot we have in common

All in this together, we

While we await God's sure summons

Are a worldwide family 

© Janet Martin

Thank-you, pear-picker in South Africa...

Banana-grower in Guatemala ...

Tea-harvester in China...

Dish manufacturer in Luxembourg...

Coffee-mug artist in the UK...

John 15:17
This is My command to you: Love one another.

Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. 

Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

Romans 13:8
Be indebted to no one, except to one another in love.

 For he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to its neighbor.

 Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

They Talk About Mermaid Tattoos

Ending an era with this little gal today; 

she is soon to be a proud Big Sister

(She doesn't know that she is the latest owner of a piece of Janet's heart💖)

But oh, what a perfectly-precious farewell day

with two of my favorite little gal-pals💕

It doesn't look like it here but oh, the conversation...😅💗💗💗

They talk about Mermaid tattoos

And Minions Bubble-bath and things

Like, how when thoap getth in your eyeth/soap gets in your eyes

It ‘really-really-very-thtingth’ /stings

And nothing is impossible

In a world not yet four years old

Still oblivious to the pull

Of Bygone’s oceanic hold

Their dollies board yoga-mat ships

Where giggling captains shout ahoy

And take the silliest of trips

To snack-time’s high-five, five-star joy

While we find life a gladder charge

In the delightful company

Of Darling Innocence at large

And pure and precious as can be

How unaware-ly they arrange

A gallery of mementos

Where nothing in the world can change

The pictures that these halls enclose

While heartstrings twang and tangle, oh

Where hold-and-letting-go soft-spars

With laughter-spangles lilting glow

And a sweet blur of salty stars

They stir a thankful melody

For pink-frock perfect happiness

For little girls, still fancy-free

Where childhood is earth’s heaven-ness

Before the slick wink of an eye

That turns us into hoarder’s of

Artwork that money cannot buy

Masterpieces entitled 'Love'

© Janet Martin

This sunny-deck tea-party was not just to say farewell

but to honor a birthday girl as well!

Happy 22nd Birthday, Victoria!

The little girls watched as I wrapped Victoria's birthday gift!

Granddaughter was SO excited!!

I reminded them that it's a secret so don't tell her!!

and they gave me their solemn word

...until, over come with excitement for her auntie's birthday

Grand daughter blurted out

'you have a gift and it's your two favorite-est books!😂💝💝💝

How Gently, Surely, Holy/Wholly, Purely...Joy

Rom.8:37

Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Yes! A sunrise decorated daybreak's skies today!

Something akin to joy/spring fever surged through me as I drank it in

which got me to contemplating joy...

then lo, and behold! it was the topic of today's devotion

from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers

How gently joy does not dismay

Its source, like a wellspring

Of blush and gold to counter gray

That life is bound to bring

How surely joy restores the soul

Amidst much creature care

To cheers us on toward the goal

Of joy beyond compare

How holy/wholly, joy clings to God’s word

As sorrow’s billows toss

While hope’s anchor abides, secured

In the pow’r of the cross

How purely joy assuredly brims

To bind grim wounds of grief

And stir a symphony of hymns

From worship’s weathered sheaf

How gently joy anoints the shores

Where often teardrops flow

For we are more than conquerors

Through God who loves us so

© Janet Martin

Majestic Masterpiece (aka Mercy)

To the locals, no, this was not today!😅😅

The one below is this morning!! 

just as majestic...at second glance!

Gold-dipped daybreaks have been far and few between, the last few months!!

The first photo one of the few from mid-February!

But, whether gold or gray the Giver is the same, who grants each day

What a sound, 

like muffled thunder, 

or a rolling sea

must fill God's ears

as millions of feet touch down 

each morn on the façade of eternity 

Yes, at first glance it appeared to be

'another lackluster dawn'

But a longer look transformed it...

and suddenly I was smitten with

a rekindled desire to taste 

in full its sparkle of moments

far too precious to waste

It rolls from age to age

Unruffled by the years

It sits at front and center stage

As night unveils its piers

To bear the brunt of feet

Where raring highs and lows

Of eternal import compete

Upon its fleeting pose

It gleams with hope’s appeal

And groans with hope’s despair

And laughs with hope’s replenished zeal

As worry yields to prayer

And hunger to the Must

That none can long ignore

But hounds Soul’s vestibule of dust

With wolves that stalk death’s door

It gleams with dreams reborn

From shards that love will purge

It rises on the mist of morn

Like a majestic verge  

To grant to mortal berth

Another worthy lease

As God plants on the face of earth

Mercy’s fresh masterpiece

Anchored in swells of change

A surf, where seasons shift

And circumstances rearrange

The turf, but not the gift

God siphons from the ash

Of Bygone’s lifeless fray

A jewel for yon eastward sash

A phoenix called Today

How oft we trample it

Underfoot without thought

While, all the while we sample it

With what God’s grace has wrought

Forbid we haste, unawed

By God’s mercy displayed

But as we waken, first applaud

This day that He has made

© Janet Martin

Well known, well-loved easily forgotten verses

that really bear daily repeating, don't they?!!💓🙏

Lam. 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the LORD has made; 

We will rejoice and be glad in it.