The Murmuration

murmuration of Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris

The skipping waves are rolling in today, looking very lively, sparkly white on turquoise. We shopped and I am preparing the curries for tomorrow.   The little starling family we first met on the pier about 12 years ago has now grown into a murmuration and murmured across our Green this morning, Captain Butterfly and camera in hot pursuit.

I love to see them doing so well.

I got a pretty card from Krysia, one of her paintings and some of her poems. She can write too!

Lovely meeting last night, of course, and I hope I will be back on the work tomorrow morning.  Mick said he will ring me and he and Micah will come round. They would love to see the Captain too, but I don't suppose he will want to be there.  Its hard not to give up hope sometimes, but I must remember the Inspired definition of love. It does not give up - it "hopes all things".   It is sometimes difficult to keep going, but looking out on the sparkling sea, one of Jehovah's grand creations, is a great help.

I gave Sylvia her copy of the talk, so she can be learning it, but I forgot the brochures for Maggie!  They are now inside my Watchtower magazine, as I don't think even I will manage to forget that on Sunday.

The Talk

Today I must finish my studying for the meeting tonight and get my talk written so I can give Sylvia, my householder, a copy, and we can decide when and where we will practise it for Thursday week.

The assigned talk is:   HOW DO WE KNOW THERE REALLY IS A DEVIL?

And the assigned material is taken from "Reasoning from the Scriptures" p361 par.2 - p362 par.2:   

"The Bible is the chief source of evidence. There he is repeatedly referred to by name (Satan 52 times, Devil 33 times). Eyewitness testimony as to Satan’s existence is also recorded there. Who was the eyewitness? Jesus Christ, who lived in heaven before coming to earth, repeatedly spoke of that wicked one by name.—Luke 22:31; 10:18; Matt. 25:41.

What the Bible says about Satan the Devil makes sense. The evil that mankind experiences is far out of proportion to the malice of the humans involved. The Bible’s explanation of Satan’s origin and his activities makes clear why, despite the desire of the majority to live in peace, mankind has been plagued with hatred, violence, and war for thousands of years and why this has reached such a level that it now threatens to destroy all mankind.

If there really were no Devil, accepting what the Bible says about him would not bring lasting benefits to a person. In many instances, however, persons who formerly dabbled in the occult or who belonged to groups practicing spiritism report that they were at that time greatly distressed because of hearing “voices” from unseen sources, being “possessed” by superhuman beings, etc. Genuine relief was gained when they learned what the Bible says about Satan and his demons, applied the Bible’s counsel to shun spiritistic practices, and sought Jehovah’s help in prayer.—See pages 384-389, under the heading “Spiritism.”

Believing that Satan exists does not mean accepting the idea that he has horns, a pointed tail, and a pitchfork and that he roasts people in a fiery hell. The Bible gives no such description of Satan. That is the product of the minds of medieval artists who were influenced by representations of the mythological Greek god Pan and by the Inferno written by the Italian poet Dante Alighieri. Instead of teaching a fiery hell, the Bible clearly says that “the dead . . . are conscious of nothing at all.”—Eccl. 9:5."

Study No.25: Use of an Outline...  this is a difficult one for me. Do I yet have the confidence to work from an outline, rather than a full script, which I prefer?

Setting:  Making a return visit to someone who showed interest.  I am going to call back on Sylvia and we will talk...

This is very timely, as we, the children of Adam, are busy memorialising World War 1 - "the war to end wars" - when, according to an article in The Independent recently - there are now only 11 countries in the world free from some kind of conflict.

What is the force that is pulling the strings?  Or rather, who?  I hope my Bible-based talk will help identify him. But it won't unless I get it written!

I am very much enjoying The Great British Bake-off - and the accompanying Guardian blog.   A comment from the blog today:  "Mary's look at the mention of sesame seed ice cream was her best since the legendary store bought fondant incident of 2014."

Indeed.

The Captain is coping valiantly.

The God of all Comfort

Jehovah is the God of all comfort and I had such a consoling call from the congregation elders today. And we have had calls and emails from family and friends.  And Linda came for lunch. So it has been a good day.

We had torrential rain.   The evening sky is full of clouds, and the sea is a pale clear blue.  The Captain spent a lot of the day at Arundel, but came back to have lunch with Linda and me.  It was leek and potato soup, with Linda providing an olive focaccia, and mousse from Waitrose for afters.

Now I am trying to think what I have done today. Shopped in the morning, made lunch, chatted with Linda and did my studying. We are both sitting at our computers this evening.

We are reading up on the options for the cancer treatment, and none of them seem any fun.

The Big C

Now that Captain Butterfly has blogged about the problem, I can too.

So Friday was a memorable day.  He was waiting for me in The Street, as our congregation coach arrived very late, and when we got home he told me that the results of his biopsy were not good.

You can see the Captain's Log for details.

On the plus side, as you will see, if you do, this has been caught very very early, and should be treatable.

Well, we are now into the Death Zone.    And no mistake.

He is being brave and stoical and sensible about it - as he always is.   But I did notice he had done some mad comfort shopping during the day. The fridge was full of sweet desserts, and the freezer was full of choc ices. He is usually rather stern about such things.

I don't know what to say.  Except that I must trust in Jehovah with all my heart.   He loves Captain Butterfly even more than I do.

The Wrecked Metaphor at the Sand Martin Hide

Captain Butterfly took me to the Sand Martin Hide today.  Not a lot going on but a lovely late summer afternoon with a real feeling of Autumn in the air.  The wildflowers were everywhere.  As he set up his cameras, I watched a swan sail gracefully across the lake and disappear, and then watched its wake disappear in turn.

Mute Swan, Cygnus olor

Its all metaphor nowadays, and it set me thinking of the sparrow who flew across the Mead Hall - in this quote from Bede:

“The present life of man upon earth, O King, seems to me in comparison with that time which is unknown to us like the swift flight of a sparrow through the mead-hall where you sit at supper in winter, with your Ealdormen and thanes, while the fire blazes in the midst and the hall is warmed, but the wintry storms of rain or snow are raging abroad. The sparrow, flying in at one door and immediately out at another, whilst he is within, is safe from the wintry tempest, but after a short space of fair weather, he immediately vanishes out of your sight, passing from winter to winter again. So this life of man appears for a little while, but of what is to follow or what went before we know nothing at all.

― Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

Well, we do know, because Jehovah, the Creator of life has told us.  From the moment we are conceived in the womb, he knows us. We are a living soul. He knows every detail of our damaged genetics.  And when we die, his inspired word assures us we are conscious of nothing at all. But it also assures us that God will not forget us, and will reclaim us from the sleep of death when the earth is Paradise again.

But, watching the swan and its wake disappear, made me think of the shortness of our lives now and how quickly all traces of it go.

Though the swan then wrecked my metaphor by swimming back and carrying out a long grooming session in the middle of the lake.

 I did wonder whether that could in some way picture the resurrection and... but at that point my overloaded metaphor sank without trace.

There is quite a lot to say about the last few days, but I can't say it yet.  I only managed to get to one session of the Twickenham Assembly, but I do have some notes from the talk about Babylon the Great, which I hope I can read well enough type up and blog.

(No swans were harmed in the making of this blog.)

Dorothy Whipple

Or I could have called this blog:  "No Caravans", as the gypsies seem to have left. They stayed a couple of weeks last time. Its a shame, as I was hoping to get to their doors next week.   Went to Rustington - shopped, and tackled a steep flight of stairs.

I have just been re-reading Dorothy Whipple and can't recommend her books enough.  "They Were Sisters" and "Someone at a Distance" especially.  Good short stories too.  Bea, the ones you read here were "After Tea and Other Stories".   Apparently she wrote 3 volumes of short stories, and I hope one day to find the other two.

This is an excellent review of Sisters:
http://www.persephonebooks.co.uk/they-were-sisters.html

She also wrote a memoir: "The Other Day".  It ends with Dorothy still a child and I don't know that she wrote any more. But, maybe, one day, I will come across Part 2 in a second hand bookshop somewhere.

The book ends like this:

"It is winter.  There are no cows to get into the wood. There is almost no wood.  It has thinned away almost to nothing.  The grey levels of the lake are but sparsely barred by naked trees.
  In the field there is a ring of bitten turnips and the sheep limp forlornly in the frozen grass.
  But in the garden one snowdrop is out, praying under the veronica bush.
  Spring will come back.  Not - to speak in metaphor - to me.  But spring itself will come, and that is enough."

She loved the beauty of the creation - she wonderfully evokes the seasons - and it will all come back to her when Jehovah wakes her from the sleep of death.

Will she write more novels then?      Who knows?    At the moment, we really have only one plot. Things go wrong and they get put right again.  It might be that misunderstandings part the lovers until the last few pages - or that someone is murdered and, in the last chapter, the murderer is unmasked and brought to justice - and so on.  And in these post modern times, when we have lost hope, things just go wrong, and they don't get sorted.

But its basically the same plot.   Can we imagine any other story?  That is the story we, the children of Adam, are living.  Things went terribly wrong in Eden - we are waiting for the Kingdom of God to put them right again.  Which is why we say the Lord's prayer.

When Paradise is restored there will be new things. Things we can't even dream of now.  And so perhaps new stories.

Caravans

The Gypsies are back.  There is a small encampment of unmarked caravans on the Green outside. I will have to talk to the elders and see if we can get some Witnesses down to the caravan doors next week - hopefully including myself this time.

While I was wondering how to approach the subject of Babylon the Great in my blog,  I noticed that this Friday afternoon, at the Assembly at the Rugby Stadium at Twickenham, there will be a talk, at 1.40, entitled:

 How Babylon the Great Has “Shut Up the Kingdom”
(Matthew 23:2, 4-10,13, 23, 24, 34)

If anybody is in Twickenham you would be most welcome to come and listen.   And I will - I hope, knees, arthitis, general debility permitting - be there and will take notes and type them into my blog - for anyone who is interested to read.

It is vital that we know, because Revelation warns, in the strongest terms:
 “She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, and she has become a dwelling place of demons and a place where every unclean spirit and every unclean and hated bird lurks!  For because of the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, all the nations have fallen victim, and the kings of the earth committed sexual immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth became rich owing to the power of her shameless luxury.”    And I heard another voice out of heaven say: “Get out of her, my people, if you do not want to share with her in her sins, and if you do not want to receive part of her plagues. "

You will see from that she is not the political system, though she has made herself part of it, when she should have been no part of it.  Nor is she the powerful commercial system though she has made "the merchants of the earth" rich.


I did the rest of my magazine route yesterday, except for Emma.  She said she wanted to ask me in for a coffee, so I must try and get there at a time she will be in, so it will have to be the weekend after the Convention.

If only I could find the words to do justice to the sky yesterday morning. It was a Paradise sky - an intense and tender blue, filled with fluffy white clouds.  The Captain was out doing his butterfly count, and found plenty to count.  It was true butterfly weather.

The Captain suggested that I link this block to the Barbara Dickson song of the same name:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-GLqF-0Dg0

We saw her at The Chichester Festival Theatre. A great evening.

The Feeling of Autumn

Grey Heron, Ardea cinerea

A beautiful day, but with a real feeling of Autumn  in the air.  Its my favourite season - although I love them all.  The Captain marched me off to the Park yesterday evening. There was a lovely light, and we saw a heron posing, spotlit.   Col got lots of photos.

It was much easier to walk to the pond this time, so that was encouraging. I sat and enjoyed the beauty of the late summer evening, and thanked Jehovah for it.  There weren't many people about - some dog walkers - some happy dogs - and an Asian family feeding the ducks. Their little girl, in a pink tracksuit top and pink trainers, found a handful of seagull feathers on the grass.   She took one in each hand and flew along with them, her arms outstretched.

I sometimes feel my own childhood curving back to meet me  - remembering how much fun we got from the flowers, and the seeds, and the feathers.    We used to play soldiers with plantains.  And I still feel excited when I see a chestnut glistening among the fallen leaves.  We used to play Noah's ark with shoeboxes and herd our china and plastic animal collections on board, just in time. And we had hours of fun on rainy days drawing villages on large sheets of cartridge paper.

Or is this my second childhood talking?

A Mighty Engine

It is good to feel I am getting back to being a cog - albeit a zimmery sort of cog - in the mighty engine of the Christian preaching work.   As we left Sue's -  it was the team of Sue and Sue today -  I saw loads of my siblings in the street, already starting to work.  They would be from one of the other groups. We meet in various private homes on Saturday mornings, each group with its own map.

We - Sue times 2 - went to a lovely and I assume expensive estate, trying to give everyone the details of our website:  http://www.jw.org/en/ 

This is being distributed worldwide, so I hope you will all get one.

"Don't stay out too long" said Captain Butterfly, plaintively and uncharacteristically. "How are you going to wait on me hand and foot if you go and cripple yourself again."

Hmmm...  anyway, I promised I wouldn't do more than an hour. He is right too - I was in a lot of pain after the last time when I did too much.   But, when I got back, to start my hand and footery, I found he had gone out to do his butterfly transect!  For the first time in a week.  He must be feeling much much better.

Hurray.  And  I didn't mind the waiting hand and foot.  He has been looking after me for months.  So it was his turn for a bit of TLC.   Lovely to have him back though, soaring on his butterfly wings.  I've packed him up a lunch for tomorrow.

As we watch the News...

For those who are wondering what the answer is, our "Examining the Scriptures Daily" addresses the question directly, so I thought I would simply blog it, and those who wish can read it.

Thursday, August 14

Man has dominated man to his injury.—Eccl. 8:9.

"During 6,000 years of human history, self-determination and self-rule have brought a tragic abundance of pain and suffering to mankind. What do we see today? Aside from wars and uprisings, there are the devastating problems of poverty, disease, destruction of the environment, climate change, and more. Government officials have warned that if we do not change our business-as-usual attitude, the outcome will be disastrous. Under the Messianic King Jesus Christ and his 144,000 corulers, God’s Kingdom will take progressive steps to undo all the damage done to humans and their home, the planet Earth. The Thousand Year Reign will bring about the fulfillment of the heartwarming promise by Jehovah God: “I am creating new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be called to mind, neither will they come up into the heart.”—Isa. 65:17. "


This is what we are praying for when we say The Lord's Prayer - for God's Kingdom to come, and for His will to be done upon the earth.

And its odd how the Day of Judgement, the thousand year reign of Jesus and the Saints, is so often pictured as something terrible.  Yet it is something to be longed for.  It is when the earth is restored to Paradise, and obedient humankind to perfection.

All who come into the Day of Judgement, be they "the great crowd" that is protected through Armageddon, or the resurrected dead - both "the righteous and the unrighteous" - will have a completely fresh start. They will not be judged for anything they have done before.

As the Christian Greek Scriptures famously tell us "The wages sin pays is death."  (Romans 6:23)   And therefore, "the one who has died has been acquitted from his sin".  He has paid the wages of his sin, his imperfection. (Romans 6:7)

Hence the urgency of the Christian preaching work, as all of us on the earth now are facing Armageddon with the wages of our sin unpaid.


Today, we have had beautiful light brought to us via Big Bertha, I assume.  Intense sunlight with ominous dark clouds all around - a brief shower while I was shopping this morning.  I took the Butterfly Memberships, plus a Report someone had requested to the Post Office, and posted the card and present to the bride and groom.  Oh and also a copy of "Old Playgrounds" to Krysia.

I hope she will enjoy it.

The new Dentist and the first Guardian reader.

Saw the New Dentist yesterday afternoon.  My teeth are OK. And they had the first proper clean since we left Rita, our American hygienist, behind on Planet Expat quite a few years ago.   Ouch ouch ouch. But they do feel lovely and clean now.  Very nice guy, lovely surgery.

I delivered one set of magazines on the way back. I meant to do more, but realised I had come out without my Bible!    I am feeling a bit distrait at the moment.

Had a lovely chat with Krysia, old school friend, the other day.  Well, not that we knew each other in school exactly, but we had  long talk about our Convent school experiences.  Neither of us is starry eyed about nuns, but I have recommended that she reads Karen Armstrong's "Through the Narrow Gate", which explains a lot.

Lovely comment in The Guardian today - under an article about Bleak House:

Bleak House is worth it just for Mrs Jellyby, the original Guardian reader.

Big Bertha

Odd and very beautiful sky early morning - I hope the Captain has managed to capture it on his camera. And the most wonderful glowing light.   Now it is suddenly overcast and the sea is getting up - though nothing like it was yesterday.  I don't know whether Bertha has passed or if this is still her,

Now, quarter to seven, the Channel is turning a lovely shade of bluey-turquoise, and there are white horses to the front.    The balcony mint is starting to blow in the wind. The Captain moved all the plants to the back and brought the balcony furniture in.

In the light of the horrors in the News I do want to say a bit more about the entity that Revelation calls Babylon the Great.  I might devote a blogpost to it.     But I also have to think about removing myself from Facebook.  I have just had to "unfriend" two people - which I hate to do - but I don't want to open up my fb in the morning and see such cruel and obscene posts.   One post this morning made me wonder what is in peoples hearts that they would want to so cruelly embarrass someone, and someone who is so young too.

We had a monsoon during my morning shop - courtesy of Bertha, I assume.  I had to take refuge in a shop until the blue sky came back. Odd weather, but no complaints.  We really need the rain.   It suddenly feels very Autumnal.  As do the two of us.

The Wild Waves

The tail end of Hurricane Whoever- Bertha, apparently - that has come over from the States began to hit us this morning, causing a wild sea, and a numinous light.   It was a lovely drive back from the Hall.   I followed Captain Butterfly who came to give me a lift to my car as it was raining so hard!

I am finding it very hard for us both to be getting so old and heading into the death zone.   How wrong it all is - that our lives are so short now.  We have this immense brain - with more capacity for learning and storage than any machine we have invented.  It was made to last forever, to go on learning forever.

And that is what I thought many years ago - how short a time we have to spend with the people we love.   Thank goodness a rescue is close at hand.  The rescue we pray for when we say the Lord's Prayer.

Linda has rung up to suggest a curry evening, with her cooking a biriani.

The Barbara Woodhouse of the Computer World

Linda bought her computer round to Dr.Butterfly to have it fixed.  He turned it on, looked at it sternly, and it began to work.   Very sensible of it really.   She stopped for some lunch (a ham sandwich - she decided not to risk the beetroot soup - looks very red, tastes very bland).  And we watched her current TV passion "The Speakmans" .   They are a pair of Yorkshire therapists who cure people on TV.  It usually takes about 5 minutes of blunt no-nonsense Yorkshire chat, and the patient is cured. Rather like the computer - but, sadly, Captain B doesn't make millions out of that.

I have scrubbed out the kitchen, made us all lunch, done a little internet witnessing, watched TV with Linda and am now hoping to do my studying for the day.

Jackie is round tonight, which should cheer us both up.  The chicken (with mushrooms and ginger) is made. Its just a question of doing the rice, and stir frying the veggies.   Mr.Waitrose has supplied the cheese and the dessert.

Jane and the Cactus Flower

Stapelia lepida

Jane gave me an amazing cactus flower - the carrion flower, or Stapelia lepida.   Captain Butterfly has photographed it, as if I tried to describe it, you wouldn't believe me.  We had done nearly two hours on the doors - not walking all the time - we did some of my magazine route calls - and Jane kindly did the driving!   And she made us a coffee afterwards in her lovely garden - a courtyard oasis.

I come in two lovely colourways:
1. Corpse just fished from the river White
or
2. Boiled lobster Red.

and as it was a hot hot morning, I favoured the Boiled lobster.   Everyone else is going a lovely shade of brown in the sunshine.   But we had some much needed rain in the night.  The Green looks slightly less brown.


As we remember the dead of 1914, "the war to end wars", and as war rages in the Crimea, and the horrors in the Middle East continue, I read of yet another murder the streets of the UK.

Mark Roberts was walking home when he was set upon by  a 17 year old who knocked him down and kicked and stamped him to death.  The girl with him filmed her friend doing this on her iphone - rather than calling for help or an ambulance.

The murderer was "high on drink and drugs" at the time.   He has been sentenced to serve at least 12 years and 3 months.

So our lives are held very cheap by the law.  And the young lad should be in fit stomping form when he comes out to terrorise us all again.

What did those who died in 1914 die fighting for?    It is a good thing that the dead are "conscious of nothing at all" or they might well be wondering right now.
.

Mermaids

Linda and Deirdre came over for a swim yesterday, and drinks (soft) and nibbles.   We had a wonderful talk at the Kingdom Hall in the morning - all about where we are in the stream of time and what is going to happen next.  Look for the UN being given teeth - it has a job to do.

A question:  "What is "Babylon the Great" of Revelation, and why do we urgently need to get out of it and stand clear?

What the UN will not do though is bring about peace on earth - whatever it may be going to claim.   Only the incoming Kingdom of God, which is a heavenly government, a rulership from the heavens, will bring about real peace on earth.

The warning in the Hebrew Scriptures that "it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step" still stands.  And the last 6,000 years of human history go to prove the truth of the warning.  We are busy commemorating the outbreak of the first World War, while a new war goes in the Crimea, the Middle East is in flames, etc.


Jackie cooked us and Tom a roast lamb supper, followed by cheese and a lemon cheesecake. A lovely evening, as ever.  We have booked her up for next Friday.  I might do a curry.

Today looks like being a housework day - two lots of washing already done and dusted.

The Team of Jean and Sue ride out

Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus

The Captain took me to Brookfield Park yesterday, a lovely area with lots of little wildflower meadows, and a lake with reed beds.   And we saw a Clouded Yellow!  Impossible to pick a favourite butterfly, but, if I was forced to, at gunpoint, the Clouded is probably the one. Exquisite design.

My longest walk - well, I say "walk" - so far.  And I got a good dose of sunlight for my poor old bones too.

Made soup again - and managed a quiche and salad for our lunch.

I went to the Kingdom Hall this morning - we are delivering the new leaflet about our website along with invitations to the coming Convention, which has the theme:  "Keep Seeking First God's Kingdom".  Jean asked if we could work together and I was only too happy to do so.  David gave us a small territory, though to get there I had to drive across the Big Boy roundabout and the train crossing.   I prayed to Jehovah and it all went very smoothly. We found most people at home!  And all but one gladly accepted the invites and info.   I then drove Jean on 3 of her return visits, and we both ended up having a coffee at Waitrose.  A lovely morning, and we go to Jacks for supper tonight, so hopefully a lovely day.

Jean was beautifully turned out, as usual, everything colour co-ordinated. She is as slim as a reed which helps of course.

There are some spots of rain at the moment - which we badly need.

Lacking a Dr.Watson

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

A busy day yesterday - well busy for me at any rate.  Linda rang up early - she had an unexpected day off, could she join the Captain in his butterfly survey.   Yes, indeed another pair of eyes - younger eyes - always welcome.   I used to be a good spotter - but now, even if I could get out, the eyes aren't what they used to be ("What oak tree?"  "What meadow?" "What planet earth?")

Apparently she did well, including spotting a pair of courting bumble bees - court in the act... and  a pristine Painted Lady.

So I made them up a couple of packed lunches and went off to do my last few magazine route calls.  I have never been so late with them.  I caught Dave at home - he was packing and leaves for Wales tomorrow.

I got another warm welcome at my next door- and remembered to draw his attention to: http://www.jw.org/en/ our website, packed to the gills with Bible information and some wonderful little videos. As I headed off for the next call I saw David and Carol coming towards me - it turned out that they had just called on the Mystery House, where I have been posting the magazines to for over a year.

If only I had a Dr.Watson type side-kick he could now put it all into a short story:  The Case of the Mysterious Route Call.   But I haven't.  And that is a relief as I have a haunting worry that the answer to the mystery may be that I have been posting the magazines to the wrong door for nearly a year...  Anyway, I got a warm welcome, although my bro and sis had only just left, and I hope to pick it up maybe next week.

My last call had all the curtains drawn so I just popped the magazines through the letterbox.  I then shopped (at Waitrose), picked up my prescription, and also a library book.  Its a strange and compelling memoir and I might review it later.

Then back home, collapse, collapse, made tea for the weary Butterfly Counters on their return - veggie soup, peach crumble and ice-cream - then on to the meeting, giving Captain Butterfly a lift en route.  Got myself into a horrible and embarrassing tangle when I tried to overtake a bus that I thought had stopped at a bus stop, but it was temporary traffic lights, and I nearly caused a gridlock.

Why am I such an idiot?   And oh for that wonderfully perfect brain that I hope Jehovah will give me when the earth is being restored to Paradise.   I am sure we will not have cars then though. Why would we?

Its nice to have Linda - a fellow inhabit of Planet Expat - living close by.