The Young Lady from Hyde

There was a young lady from Hyde
Who ate a green apple and died
The apple fermented
inside the lamented
Now she has cider inside her inside.

One of our calls yesterday morning - a lovely Irish Catholic gentleman - taught us this limerick. Then we had a coffee and talked about Armageddon. He is a very learned man and always gives us an interesting history lesson, this time about The Marshall Plan. And we try to tell him something about the Inspired Scriptures.

We managed two hours, which is good for us.  The elder taking the group gave us a lovely territory, ideal for us, as we could circle back to my little car.  We finished it and did some of our regular calls, including limerick man, who may well be from Limerick of course.

 This afternoon I plan to visit Maggie, sans Jean, who has family visiting.  But another sister who lives locally may come too.  It is hard as Maggie has so few words left now, just a few sentences. But nobody could make us more welcome than she does.

Captain Butterfly has an Old Boys Reunion on this week, including a tour of his own school.  I wouldn't mind a tour of my old school come to think of it.  Of course it will have changed so much, but...

Sad school was such an unpleasant experience - one that so many children hate.   Because what do you want more as a child than to learn things?  Children are always asking questions.  And I can now see that having time just to learn is a privilege.

But... something is fundamentally wrong with the school system.  Not surprising, given that something is fundamentally wrong with the world.

And only the Kingdom of God will put it right. Already millions of us worldwide are experiencing how well, and how kindly, it educates.  Think how kindly and patiently Jesus taught his disciples when he was on the earth. He is teaching us just as kindly and patiently now.

There is another fearsome hurricane approaching the Caribbean and America as I type this.  I hope it won't be as bad as it looks, because it looked terrifying on the News - like something out of that Hollywood movie - The Day Before Yesterday? The Day After Tomorrow?

The Channel looks calm and a pale blue grey. But who knows what the sea will do next?

What we need to remember is that Jesus - the one annointed as King of Jehovah's Kingdom - calmed the sea when he was on the earth, showing us how he has been given the authority to bring the natural forces back into the loving harmony they had in Eden.