Trying to Take It All In

On Saturday at my nephew's wedding he commented in his speech how he and his wife were 'trying to take it all in'- this beautiful beginning to 'till death doth part'! This statement echoed a sentiment I seek to live by, but never more so as in the past year!! Death, esp. sudden death, which my family, church family and local community have experienced like never before in my recollection, has re-impacted me with the awareness of the sacred brevity of it all and how nothing stays the same for every long,and how, because none of us knows the number of our ordained days,we should endeavor daily to take to heart the humble, holy, whole duty of man.The 'whole duty of man' is also a 'till death doth part ' undertaking! Eccles.12:13Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. After a week of vacation followed by Saturday's beautiful wedding I told my sister this morning that in today's poem 'I'm trying to snare the bitter-sweetness of lovethat always climaxes on days like Saturday', especially after a week of more-precious-than-ever family time. One of vacation's highlights;  dock-breakfasts! Beauty and brokenness sparkle and shatterRushing like waves across shorelines withinTrying The Conclusion of the Whole MatterThat Mortal shoulders beneath shrouds of skinWhile we are trying to take it all in College is not learning’s sole institutionWisdom and knowledge are not the same thingWonder and sorrow, with clashing profusionAuthor both worship and Want’s groan and grinWhile we are trying to take it all in Praise God whose thoughts and ways confound man’s reasonPraise God who grants all we hold and let goPraise God who orchestrates time’s ordained seasonsWho is not mocked; we will reap what we sowWhile bitter-sweetly Farewell braves Hello ...while we are weathering love’s grueling gloriesTasting the ink of its laughter and tearsKicking its dust that soon settles in storiesAdded to archives of fond yesteryearsWhile morning breaks that which soft disappears Darling, the dew of dusk startles dream-dancersBeauty and brokenness sparkle and spinWhile some are armed with youth’s untested answersOthers renew seasoned vows to beginTo never stop trying to take it all in © Janet Martin