Listen - Poem

Listen -

Old and living Prophets

     whisper

     from dusty pages

     and shining pulpits

Servants call all

     but faithful few

     choose to partake

     of Christ's banquet

Peculiar people

     reclaim covenant

     accumulate on Peter's

     Gentile blanket

Trumpet beacon

     signals earth to heaven

     Idumea trained

     for final confrontation

Earthquake thunders

     oceans roar

     war threatens

     faithless tremble

Powers clash

     in royal battle

     The Word, emblazed

     ends Zion's struggle

Who will rise

     to welcome Him

     who will hear

     who will listen?

Janice Harten

Sept 10, 2010

Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Sacred Clothing - Garments

Throughout history, up to the present, certain symbols have been viewed as sacred by those of all religions and faiths.  For instance, those of the Jewish faith might wear a Tallit, which is a sacred apron or shawl.  This is also used at weddings as a sacred symbol of their faith and the promises they are making with God.  In the Catholic religion, a woman covers her head with a simple handkerchief before entering the chapel to worship.  Others wear a crucifix to remind them of their faith in Jesus Christ.  In the Muslim religion, women cover themselves to protect modesty etc.

Besides sacred clothing, other groups don clothing that unites and distinguishes them from others.  For instance, different branches of the military wear colors and insignia, that define their roles, skills and accomplishments.  They wear protective gear in battle and their uniform helps them identify one another.  Clothing can be both a protection and an identifying and unifying object.

I wear a white garment.  What is different about my garment is that I wear it underneath my clothing so that it remains private rather than public.  The fact that it is private is also symbolic.  Rather than it being an object for the world to see, it is an object that reminds me of my personal relationship to God.  It reminds me of the promises I have made with the Lord and the blessings he has in store for me.  I feel that it protects me as literally as a soldier's armor might, against temptation and danger.  It is white, which is symbolic of something clean and pure, which I strive to be.  It is a way in which I demonstrate to the Lord that I want and am willing to keep his commandments.

The garment is comfortable and simple.  It is sacred and meaningful.  I accept the beauty and significance others place on their religious symbols.  I appreciate those who respect this private demonstration of my faith.

Abraham - Poem

Abraham -

Faith, quickened Abraham

    Grace, granted life within

Hope, born of Sarah’s womb

    Nation, raised from the tomb

 

He staggered not at the promise

    Praised God, ever righteous

Who against all hope, believed

    Seed, eternal life received

Do I stagger, murmur, fall

    Before the Father of us all

Or hope, against all hope unseen

    Eternal life and spirit bring

Janice Harten

Romans 4: 16-25

April 22, 2012

Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

A Lesson in Forgiveness

Each Sunday I help teach the Sunbeams, a small class of children, 3-4 years old.  They are wiggly, emotional and loving.  They copy everything I, and another sister in the ward, do and say.  They are delightful to watch.  I enjoy small moments when one plays with my bracelet, or another snuggles close.  I feel the profound responsibility to help teach correct and true principles to newly forming minds and spirits.

Last week I taught a lesson on forgiveness.  I shared with them the story of how Jesus forgave those who were putting nails in his hands and feet, while being crucified.  Then we talked about ways someone might hurt us, and we practiced saying "I'm sorry", and "I forgive you".   The lesson has stayed on my mind all week, and this morning I realized the most important part of forgiveness, which I neglected to teach.

Recently, I felt hurt by the actions of someone else.  I withdrew emotionally and wanted them to be sorry for what they had done.  I was waiting for them to apologize to me.  Now, I recognize the fallacy of my understanding.  It seems that I am learning this for the first time, after so many years of life.  Have I ever truly practiced and understood the power of forgiveness?

So, here is what I am learning.  Forgiveness is an action exercised by one person, independent of anyone or anything else.  It does not require a decision on the part of anyone other than the one doing the forgiving.  It is a power I can experience whenever I choose.  For me, forgiveness is first an act of sorrow, as I experience the pain of intentional or unintentional harm.  Then, by not seeking revenge and harm on the perpetrator, but instead praying for their welfare, I experience healing and ultimately joy, as the weight of ill feelings is replaced by peace and love.  I can't change the other person, or expect them to understand or feel what I want them to feel.  I only have power to pray to let go of the hurt, and love  and accept that they are who they are, and love myself enough to let Christ take away the pain.

To me, this is one of the greatest gifts of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Life and light replaces darkness.  I feel my spirit and soul restored.  Now, I can separate my own actions from the actions of others, and therefore, I am not responsible for their choices.  I become accountable to God, for what is in my own heart, and this frees me from the sins and burdens of others.  It restores love, peace and joy, and allows my life to move forward, rather than get stuck in the past.

I am grateful for the simple truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ and for his example of perfect forgiveness and love.  I am grateful to experience forgiveness toward others.  I am grateful for the forgiveness my Savior and others grant me.  This morning my heart feels light again, His light.  And I hope I will choose to forgive again, only more quickly, the next time.

Cloudy Skies - Poem

Cloudy Skies

Worries

Like clouds

Hover

Overhead

 

Billowing

White -

Or black

As night

Covering -

Threatening

To block

Hope’s light

Tears

Cloudy view

Coax

Growth anew

Brilliant

Piercing light

Parts through

False night

Janice Harten

Jan 20, 2011
Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

By Small and Simple Things - Mission

During my senior year of high school, I had enough credits to stop attending classes six months before graduation, in La Paz, Bolivia.  During those few months, I read, crocheted a quilt, and tried to keep myself busy.  My parents asked if I would like to return to the States ahead of them, and live with my older sisters, and maybe take a college course.  I told them I wanted to attend my high school graduation and return to the States with them, in six months.  I was a little afraid of the future.  I think if the time had been longer, I would have accepted the offer.

My father invited me to travel with him to a missionary zone meeting, along with other missionaries serving in the mission office.  This opportunity, to be with my father one on one was very precious.  We traveled through the night, by van, across a mostly uninhabited stretch of the Altiplano.  At one point, we made a brief rest stop, at what seemed like the only small building in the middle of no where.  It was cold, and the only light I saw was the headlights of the van.  But, as I stepped away from the van and looked up, I witnessed the most beautiful sight.  The Milky Way stretched across the heavens, along with myriads of other stars and planets.  It seemed to rise from all sides of the plain we were standing on, and travel across the whole sky.  It is the one and only time I have seen such a glorious sight.  I marveled at the heavens above and my small spot on earth.  I wondered who I was and what my purpose was.

High School Graduation

Soon after this event, my father asked if I would consider serving a mission for a few weeks.  He explained that he could ask permission to extend a calling for me to serve.  This was a great surprise to me, because I didn't know it was possible.  However, now that I was 18 and in the mission field while my father was serving as a mission president, an exception was made.  (Usually young women have to be 21 before they can serve missions)  As the time approached for me to leave home, I realized how dependent I was on my parents and how much strength I drew from them.  I realized that I needed to prepare myself for this service and repent of my sins.  I prayed and made promises to the Lord about changes I needed to make.  I pondered on my life and testimony.  I asked myself what I knew about receiving personal revelation, and whether I had a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon.  I asked my father for guidance in recognizing promptings from the Holy Ghost.  I began to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, for the first time, and pray with real intent to know if it was true.

I will always be grateful to the sister missionary I served with.  Surely I was not the ideal companion she had hoped to serve with for the last few weeks of her mission.  We studied and prayed in the cold morning hours together.  We walked up the cobble stone streets and dirt paths of La Paz, into humble adobe homes.  I experienced a different La Paz than the one I saw from within my family's comfortable home.  I remember the first time my companion turned and asked me what I thought about someone we had just met with.  I was tempted to panic, realizing she and the Lord really were counting on me to use inspiration, and that I couldn't just slide by and only do what I was told.  I was expected to contribute and help.

And so my real life's journey began from this point on.  I began to pray and live with real intent.  I began to put into practice the life skills my parents had taught me from the time I was an infant.  I began to study, question, search and testify.  I realize, in looking back, that I lacked the precious training most missionaries receive while attending a few weeks or months at the MTC (Missionary Training Center). I felt inadequate and mostly unprepared.  One day, my companion and I spoke for the first time with a woman living in very humble circumstances.  At the end of our visit, she asked if she could be baptized.  This was a "golden" moment, as some missionaries describe it.  I know now, that in spite of our weaknesses, the Lord carries on his work, answering the heart felt prayers of those searching for the truth.  By small and simple things, the Lord brings about his work and our salvation.

(In recent years, I met the wife of one of my husband's business partners.  She also served a similar mission, when she was 18 years old, while her father was serving as a mission president.)

One Touch - Poem

One Touch

With just one touch He healed them

The suffering, sick, lame and blind

All about him the crowds pressing

Seeking healing through his power divine

An ‘unclean’ woman quietly suffered

An eternity of twelve years

Forbidden touch and tender contact

Shedding countless, silent tears

No arms of comfort to hold her

No loving husband’s tender embrace

No sleeping child to rock and cradle

A life of loneliness to face

Hoping she’d go unnoticed

Just one touch, she silently prayed

Of his garment’s most outer edge

Hardly a difference to make

Brushing the hem with her fingertips

She turned quickly about

But he felt, turned and asked

Sensing virtue from him had gone out

Trembling she bowed before him

And told what she had done

With faith and hope in her Savior

To him, for healing, she’d come

‘Daughter, go in peace,’ he told her

‘Thy faith hath made thee whole’

And earth’s Master and Redeemer

Quietly healed both body and soul

Savior, may I reach and touch thee

Just the tip of thy lowly hem

That my imperfections might disappear

And I might be made whole again

Janice Harten

Mark 5: 25-34

March 28, 2001

Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved

Revelation - Poem

Revelation

Veiled

Exchange

Words
&
Life

Rearrange

Janice

Apr 11, 2010
Copyright © 2012 Janice Harten.  All rights reserved.

Palisades

Bill and I are facing an interesting dilemma.  He and his sister are in the process of settling the estate left to them by their parents.  The largest portion of the estate consists of a single family home in the city.  In addition both Bill and his sister co-own a small, rundown, but beautiful recreation property.

The decision we face, is whether to use the cash from the city property he inherits to buy sole ownership of the recreational property, or accept the cash from the city property and continue to jointly own and manage the recreational property.  I have discovered there are many things to consider.  I am appreciating the fact that with increased resources, comes increased responsibility.  Property is not simply something a person accumulates.  Property is a stewardship that has to be sustained, maintained and used.  It can be a source of great satisfaction and joy, but it requires attention, organization, resources and accountability.

Bill and I have asked ourselves some of the following questions: What would the Lord have us spend our time and resources, doing?  What is the best way to preserve and expand the use of this land?  Is it simpler to manage the use and expenses with others, or is it easier to have full control of the decisions and future possibilities?  What obligation should we feel toward his parents, in preserving what they have given us?  How can we maintain relationships and feelings in the extended family while making these decisions?

View from Palisades cabin deck

It is interesting that these "things" have come to us without any effort on our part.  There are benefits and drawbacks to both scenarios   Either way requires an accounting and stewardship.  We face decisions about how to properly use, save, or invest.  This is a new experience for us, who have spent all our effort investing everything we have, into building a small business.  This is the first time we have had something to keep.  And, what role does all this play in the Lord's greater plan for us, he who owns and creates all things?  Is he presenting to us our next opportunity, to be stewards over just a little more?  We are looking to him for help in making this decision.