Butterflies and Bankers

There should be a lovely butterfly blog on The Captains Log today, as he spent yesterday at Wisley - a reward for a day spent doing tax returns.  It is Tropical Butterfly time of year there - all those glamorous flying flowers gliding gracefully about.  I have had a small preview - and can only say, don't miss it.

How could something so exquisitely engineered and painted just happen?  They speak so clearly of their Grand Creator and Designer.

In contrast, I note that the earthly powers are rubbing my nose in it today - the day after I paid my tax bill.  It seems some Banker has just been given another massive bonus, and I am apparently to be impressed and grateful because it isn't as massive as it could have been.

I am trying to be grateful, but am feeling an unChristian desire to impress someone somewhere with something a bit painful.  However... back to my studies... quickly.

And, importantly, I got back to the meetings last night - lovely to see everybody.  I have never been away so long in all my years as as JW.  The Christian congregation really cares for all of us, and is a powerhouse of purpose and energy - directed towards getting the  preaching work done.  I hope to be back out in the field Tuesday at the latest - well, in a sense, today, hopefully, if Captain Helpful feels able to take me on my magazine route. I only have a few days left to deliver January's magazines.  There is a great one coming in February - all about Armageddon - specifically what the Bible says about it, which is the important thing.

Some people see it as WW3, a nuclear war - whereas the Bible says it is the war of God the Almighty.  And it is a war that saves the earth from ruin, not one that brings it to ruin.

Sometimes too the Day of Judgement which follows it - the thousand years, the Millennial Reign - is presented as something dreadful - something to be feared.   Yet its something to be longed for.   All who come into the judgement will be given a completely fresh start, and the opportunity to learn about their Creator in the Paradise earth and be restored to the perfection our first parents had before they chose to cut themselves off from Jehovah, their Source of life.

Its a thought to hang on to when going through all these medical trials and tribulations.

And for all of us who need encouragement, I want to end with this lovely promise from the Hebrew prophet Isaiah, showing that the Day of Judgement is something to be longed for:

"Yes, for the path of your judgments, O Jehovah, we have hoped in you. For your name and for your memorial the desire of the soul has been.  With my soul I have desired you in the night; yes, with my spirit within me I keep looking for you; because, when there are judgments from you for the earth, righteousness is what the inhabitants of the productive land will certainly learn." - Isaiah 26:8,9