Last Session of the Always Rejoice! Convention

On Saturday morning, at the Zoom field service group, we discussed the Convention session that we watched last Sunday.  It really helps to go over it again -  just 45 minutes - but such a good reminder.  On Sunday we watched the afternoon session of the Always Rejoice! Convention, and saw the second part of the drama:  Nehemiah: "The Joy of Jehovah is your Stronghold."

The following and final talk Find Exquisite Delight in Jehovah was in harmony with the lessons of Nehemiah. When we listen to Jehovah and do our best to obey him, we find real and lasting happiness. And we will succeed.

A key Scripture was Psalm 37:4 which says:   "Find exquisite delight in Jehovah, And he will grant you the desires of your heart."

I have also been watching the first part of "Alison's Last Mountain" on Youtube.  Very moving.  What lovely children she had - and left - when tragically she died on K2.  Her last thought would have been of them. She made it to the top - but died on the way down when a storm blew her and her fellow climbers off the mountain.    One of the few who have both made it up there and survived the descent has told us that the world looks exquisite from the top of K2.

And, yes, I can image it is one of those places where you can see the beauty and the glory of the world in all its freshness and wonder - as if new-painted.  Though I am not likely to  be there - not until they put in the Stannarh stairlift, teashop, and a proper loo.

However,  if we obey our Creator now, one day we will see the earth as it should be - a paradise of peace and beauty, with everything restored to the loving harmony that there was in Eden.  I hope that Jehovah will wake Alison and her fellow climbers from the dreamless sleep of death then - and also her young son who recently died on a mountain in the Himalayas.

The Thousand Years will be full of exquisitely happy reunions.  I hope so much - IF I am there - that I will see my parents then.

A Really Fascinating Blog

 And I would love this to be a really fascinating blog, but...  I would need a really fascinating few days... which hasn't happened yet. And which I probably hope won't happen, as fascinating/interesting doesn't necessarily mean good/wonderful.  I could provide interminable details of my current flare-up, including waking poor Col up in the early hours of Thursday, asking for more pain-killing. I just wasn't able to get as far as the kitchen to get it.  Poor guy, given his alarm was set for 5 a.m. and he had a long day of detecting ahead of him in the Hampshire Badlands.

My health is not improving. I am getting older. The world system is frightening.  But in spite of everything, the gift of life is very precious, and the hope that our Creator, Jehovah, is holding out to all who will accept it is so wonderful, that I can feel more and more thankful for it every day that passes.  So I will end with a Wendy Cope poem, that is full of appreciation for the gift of life.   And like her, on the day of the poem, I hope I will do all of my jobs today, which would be: revise my Convention notes for the meeting tomorrow, talk to my doctor when he calls, make lunch, make supper, and climb a bit further up Butterfly paperwork mountain - at least get to camp 4 if not the summit itself. Oh and finish this blog!

The Orange

By Wendy Cope

 
At lunchtime I bought a huge orange
The size of it made us all laugh.
I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—
They got quarters and I had a half.

And that orange it made me so happy,
As ordinary things often do
Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park
This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

The rest of the day was quite easy.
I did all my jobs on my list
And enjoyed them and had some time over.
I love you. I’m glad I exist.

Always Rejoice! The Sunday Morning Session

Yesterday, after a shortened Watchtower study, we all went to the Sunday morning session of the Always Rejoice! Convention, on our various devices - in my case, I drove my laptop to the kitchen.  

This, below, was the Symposium - each item included a video of our brothers and sisters in various parts of the world sharing their experiences with us.  For example, we heard from a sister in Venezuela, who had children to care for. She told us how the shops are emptying of food - how hard it is to get even the most basic items.  And she told us how the Christian brotherhood was helping her to keep going and to keep feeding her children - and was also making sure that she ate too. 

And we heard the experience of one of our Russian brothers and his experiences in detention - our siblings there are going through so much now.   But it all helps us to see why Jehovah congregates his people, how the brotherhood can sustain us, and give us cause for rejoicing even in such difficult circumstances. 

You will find the Symposium on JW.org, if you want to listen in.   Even though we live in very difficult times, we can get through them, even finding causes for joy, if we draw close to our Creator, Jehovah, stay close to his congregated people, and always remember our wonderful hope - life in the restored earthly paradise.

• 9:40 SYMPOSIUM: We Can Rejoice Despite . . .

• • Tribulation (Romans 5:3-5; 8:35, 37)

• • Distress (2 Corinthians 4:8; 7:5)

• • Persecution (Matthew 5:11, 12)

• • Hunger (Philippians 4:11-13)

• • Nakedness (1 Corinthians 4:11, 16)

• • Danger (2 Corinthians 1:8-11)

• • Sword (2 Timothy 4:6-8)

Storm Ellen arrives

The book that won't be called A Present from Betelgeuse was emailed to my publisher yesterday, in what I hope will be its final form.   I have completely lost confidence in it now and wanted to re-write it from top to bottom. But you can never make anything perfect, so I have to let it go and hope it will make his lists next year.

Storm Ellen seems to have arrived here - the balcony flowers are blowing in the wind and white horses are developing on The Channel.

And also months and months of butterfly memberships have arrived.. so Butterfly HQ is getting back to normal...   there are so many I am going to have to do them in batches over the next week.  I made a start today, but its all a bit over-facing.

I feel as if I am getting a cold - I just hope it is a cold and not a covid.

The meeting last night was wonderful - even though I was so tired.  We have the last day of our Convention scheduled for the next two Sundays, and on the two following Saturdays we will be discussing what we have learnt in an extended Field service group.

We will be seeing the second part of our drama, which I am very much looking forward to.

Fantastic Fantasticon

 It was the virtual Fantasticon last weekend - the books launched were:

Janet Blackwell  "The Five Feathers";  Linda Nicklin "Storm Girl";  Mark Henderson "The Cat of Doom"; and James Vigor "The Reality Exchange".

All sound fascinating - so I think I will be putting them on my next booklist - and the Fantastic covers are - well, fantastic.

There was a reading from my next book, the one that will not be called A Present from Betelgeuse.  It was about a third of the first chapter.  It starts with my heroine, alone (as she thought) in the old Hall, night falling fast, and finding out that there is someone else in there with her...

And I have been inside my first computer game.  I think that's what it was. We went through lots of doors in a spaceship and lot of things happened.    It occurred to me that, had I the techie know how, I could have written "Till they Dropped" as one of these computer/video games, as it is about a young girl, the last shopper left alive, trapped in a world that has become a giant shopping mall.  She goes from room to room, from floor to floor, from Mall to Mall, trying to find her way home.

Someone - or Something - is following her.

I attended both afternoon sessions of Fantasticon, as we had our congregation meetings in the morning.

And I had a telephone consultation with the hospital Dermatology department this morning - spoke to a very nice lady - but she still can't tell why me why this happening, or how to stop it.  Anyway, she is going to prescribe a new medication for me to try to reduce the itching, which ought to help.  And will see me again in 3 months.

So another medication to add to my pantheon.

My Part in the Ministry School

This was my part in the Ministry School on Thursday night:

My brief was:   Initial Call: (3 min. or less) Begin with the sample conversation. Offer a publication from our Teaching Toolbox. (th study 3)

My material was:
Question:  Where can we find help to deal with grief?
Scripture:  2 Corinthians 1:3,4
Link:  What happens to someone who dies?

And the point of counsel I was working on was:  Use of questions.

And I wanted to make it compatible with the way we currently witness - that is to say, not door to door at the moment.

Sue (holding mobile phone to ear):  Hello. I would like to book a hair appointment for tomorrow morning if possible.

Dee:  Yes, Would 9 a.m. be OK for you?

Sue: Thanks.  Its Sue Knight.  I come in regularly.

Dee:   Oh hello - I remember you. You are the Jehovah's Witness. We had quite an interesting talk about it the last time you were here.

Sue:  Yes, that's me. I remember our talk.

Dee:   I was thinking of you only the other day, wishing I had your faith really. One of my clients broke down when I asked about her family. I hadn't seen her for ages of course and It turns out she has just lost her sister - a twin. They were close. It was very sudden, her heart apparently.  It has been such a shock.

Sue:  No!  Poor poor lady.

Daphne.  Yes I just didn't know what to say to her.  I let her tell me all about it and gave her a cup of tea but I wish I had had some hope to give. But I don't have a faith.

Sue:  Do you know, I think by letting her pour her heart out to you and just listening, you probably helped her a lot.  But comfort is such a good word here. I am thinking of a beautiful scripture - do you have time for me to read it to you?

Dee:  Yes - my next client's not here yet.

Sue:  Reads 2 Corinthians 1:3, 4: "Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our trials so that we may be able to comfort others in any sort of trial with the comfort that we receive from God."

Do you notice what it says about Jehovah, Jesus' Father?  Does it say he can sometimes offer comfort?

Dee:  No. It does say he can comfort us in all our trials.

Sue. Yes, he is the God of ALL comfort.  And do you see what it goes on to say about comforting others?

Dee.  Yes, it says that God can make us able to comfort them too.

Sue.  Exactly!  Because when we understand where the dead are, and what the hope for them is... But listen I mustn't keep you any more now, as you are working, but could we talk some more about what the Bible really says about this tomorrow morning?  And I could also bring you in a small leaflet: "Can the dead really live again?"  It will help you to see why Jehovah can truly be called "the God of all comfort". You might find something in it you would like to share with your client too, if it seems appropriate..

I am not feeling too wonderful - to put it mildly - but I managed to negotiate something called Twist and join the virtual Fantasticon that my young publisher was holding today.  I hope to join it again tomorrow afternoon, after the morning meeting.   

Does this mean I am now a Twister?

It is the finals of the Snooker in Sheffield this week. The semi-finals were amazing: Kyren Wilson v Anthony McGill; and the two giants O'Sullivan and Selby going head to head.   Each match was settled in the 35th frame, pretty much down to the black!

The final - O'Sullivan v Wilson - is going on now - and I don't see how it can come up to the excitement of the semis.  But who knows?

A Jurassic Moth

Oak Eggar, Lasiocampa quercus

We had a splendid moth visitor yesterday.  A beautiful Oak Eggar.   Enormous.  I hardly dared step out on the balcony in case it swooped and carried me off to its lair - to feed its brood of little, well, Acorn Eggars I suppose. Stunning.

Yesterday was Southlands for the Rheumatology Nurses Clinic.  Two lovely ladies - everything on time, and safely isolated - and I have some new painkilliing ideas to take away with me, if no new medicine  The inflammation is down again - thank goodness - but they gave me some information about two further meds that can be added to my pantheon if necessary.

I am going to hold back though, as anything that is effective against arthritis is so strong that so are the side effects. Its better to struggle on as long as you can really.

I have also practised my part in the Ministry School - my householder is a West Indian sister who is full of enthusiasm for my talk. She reminds me of Wilhelmina, also a Caribbean-Brit, who taught me the truth all those years ago.

Among all this talk of immigration, I must note that I have good reason to be grateful for the West Indians who came here.

The Saturday Afternoon Session of the "Always Rejoice!" Convention

Sunday morning we had a shortened Watchtower study -  30 minutes, on Zoom - then we all zoomed off on our various devices to attend the Saturday afternoon session of the Convention.

Wonderful teaching, starting with videos from the worldwide brotherhood on all the continents.  A standout experience was one from Nigeria. We saw two of our brothers - Gabriel and Joseph - out on the ministry - these experiences were from the 2019 service year, before the Lockdown.  One of those brothers is blind, the other is lame. So one can't see, and one can't walk. But between them they get around and do the preaching work that Jesus gave his followers to do - one wheeling and one steering.  A wonderful pair, and an inspiration.

The Symposium was: Help your Bible Students to...

 * Feed themselves spiritually (Matthew 5:3, John 13:17)

* Attend meetings (Psalm 65:4)

* Avoid bad associations (Proverbs 13:20)

* Overcome unclean habits (Ephesians 4:22-24)

* Develop a personal relationship with Jehovah (1 John 4:8.19)

The drama, first half, was about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem.  We will see the second half three sundays from now.  And the final talk was "Making Disciples Now Prepares Us For New World Disciple-making".

During the thousand years, during which time the Kingdom of God will be ruling over the earth, restoring it to the paradise it was always meant to be, and restoring obedient humankind to the life and perfection our first parents threw away, there will be a vast teaching work to be done.  All the resurrected dead will need to be taught.  Those who died as faithful servants of Jehovah will need to be updated on all that happened since they died; but as Acts 24:15 assures us that there is going to be a resurrection of the righteous and the unrighteous,  many who are resurrected will need to learn who the true God is, and all about the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 

  "And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous". (Acts 24:15)

Here is the link to the Convention: https://www.jw.org/en/

I have a confusion of appointments - not helped by my being so deaf - so when they ring up with new instructions I never know if I have it right.  What I did on Thursday, Friday and Saturday escapes me, but I think not much as I put myself on a 3 day detox, which always makes me feel awful - pounding headache etc - so that apart from keeping up with my studies and getting Captain B his meals - non-detox - I don't think I did anything. Watched a lot of telly - and moaned and groaned.

It was so hot yesterday that Captain B returned early from his treasure hunting. He left BEFORE THEY CLOSED THE FIELD.  Unprecedented. He did make it nearly to the end, and was in the last three, but...

It really was that hot.   Like being back in Saudi Arabia, but without the air conditioning.

Highlights

I thought I would blog a few highlights from the Saturday morning of the Always Rejoice! Convention which I attended on Sunday in our kitchen.

The Saturday morning session was all about how to find joy in the disciple making work that Jesus left for his followers to do.   A key point was that a skilled worker finds joy in his work. so we need to accept all of Jehovah's help in becoming skilled teachers of his word.  The more skilled we are, the more joy we will find.

As Psalm 40:8 says:  "To do your will, O my God, is my delight, And your law is deep within me".

Six Essential Skills in the art of making disciples were discussed:

* Asking questions

* Unleashing the power of God's word

* Illustrating key points

* Teaching with enthusiasm

* Showing empathy

* Reaching the heart

And what has more power to reach the heart than God's inspired word?     As Hebrews 4:12 tells us:  "For the word of God is alive and exerts power and is sharper than any two-edged sword and pierces even to the dividing of soul and spirit, and of joints from the marrow, and is able to discern thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Everything we teach must be based on the powerful, living word of God.  So I will remind you that the Conventions are available on this link... nope, can't understand how to work the link on this new blog format. It was easy in the old one. So they are available on JW.org - search under "Always Rejoice!" 2020 Convention.

Tuesday - field service group via Zoom - talking about patience - Zoom with the family - joined this time by Jo, Alec, Nadine and the little girls.  I cleaned the fridge, and made a small batch of marmalade muffins (I was short of butter) - plus did my studying while getting my morning dose of balcony sun.  Wednesday - supermarket delivery first thing - then Col off to get his camera fixed - it broke yesterday (think: Bear with sore head) - plus sun and studying on the balcony -  and making the fresh berrry fruit salad we usually have with our pizza on Delivery Day.

There has been a terrible explosion in the Lebanon - at least a hundred dead and many many casualties... they have gone through so much already.  It does not appear to be a terrorist attack, just a tragic accident.  I wonder about my brothers and sisters there. The pictures are devastating.  Its like a scene from the wake of WW2.

I had my first telephone appointment with the doctor's surgery. The nurse is happy with my blood sugar results. And I am sitting here now waiting for what is supposed to be a call from Rheumotology.  Given they cancelled and re-arranged my appointment 4 times, and on the last re-arrangement there was a lot of confusion as to whether it was to be in hospital or by telephone... I was just typing this worrying that they were expecting me at the hospital when the phone rang - a new doctor - we had a chat - he said he needs to see me - and will book me an appointment with the Nurses clinic.

My main hope was to try to get some pain killing that actually works.  But he says I will have to talk to my GP about it. I know there isn't much chance really, as I think only morphine would touch the pain of an arthritis flareup and they are sparing with that even in hospitals in the wake of major ops.

There is so much wrong with me now that most of my appointment was spent going through all my conditions and my medicines...  which is rather depressing to say the least.

Thank Goodness we have a congregation Zoom meeting tonight. I need to be encouraged and cheered up and reminded of the wonderful hope ahead.

A Present from Betelgeuse

My next (and probably last) novel, which most likely won't be called "A Present from Betelgeuse", as that would suggest Sci-Fi, and it isn't, may well be published next year!   My publisher, Fantastic Books, has just sent me an audio they have made of the first chapter for the next Fantasticon.  And this is even though I haven't yet finished and got approval for the final edit.  So I have to be hopeful.

I am also being asked to do a reading from my previous publications and I think I will read a couple of poems from the small family anthology "Old Playgrounds" that started my career... well, I say career... at any rate, I am published.  And I am very grateful for it too.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Old-Playgrounds-anthology-edited-Knight/dp/1470139774

This is the poem, not by me, that inspired the collection.  When me and my siblings were children back in the 1950s, we used to play in the rubble and bombsites of WW2, which turned into building sites as the post-war world got going. A gigantic hospital was built at the end of our road - it took so long to demolish, clear, build, improve, repair, etc, that the first discernible words of my parents' oldest grandchild were "big crane" ("BIG cwane").

Penny has written a lyrical poem about the way some places are haunted by memories of childhood.

Old Playgrounds (Sheffield)

Penny Grubb

A place to go. Remember where?

With cold, stone floor and dark, damp air.

Remember? It wasn't always there.

Perched up on the rafters high.

A breath! Dust billows, thick and dry.

The view's not walking feet, but sky.

Childhood's jungles all around.

Disused quarry's eerie sound.

Thistle sentries stand their ground.

The Rose-Bay higher than we knew.

Nettles, brambles, old and new.

And always poppies - just a few.

The juice ran thick and sweet and red

From berries wild as the kids they fed.

Garden's owners - long since dead.

Only the blue delphiniums show

That these were gardens, long ago.

Now mainly weeds. A place we know.

Through tangled growth, a shelter bare.

Relic of war - Like poppies there?

We didn't know, so didn't care.

Were there ghosts deep down below?

The men who had made the gardens grow?

There was no one there we knew, I know.

Now the attic's gone, the shelter's lost

The price of progress, or the cost?

Who thought about delphiniums tossed

Against the bricks of a brand new wall

A monster seventeen storeys tall

Where and when did the flowers fall?

Strangers walk the cold, stone floor

And where there was an old trapdoor.

Fill the space that was ours before

And though it's new, it's said maybe

That there's a ghost that people see.

I daren't go back. It might be me.



They were not all bomb sites - whole areas of lovely old stone houses with their flourishing gardens were demolished to make way for the brave new world that planners were, sincerely, hoping to build.  And we played in those old gardens for years.  And of course, nearly all gardens then had a crumbling old air raid shelter. Once I remember we found and nurtured a cabbage - only to find on picking day that another group of roaming children had been nurturing it too.  I don't know what happened. Hopefully we shared it. 

Sunday, is the third of the 6 sessions of our virtual Convention. If you wish to join us, here is the link. We are attending the Saturday morning session today.
https://www.jw.org/en/library/videos/#en/categories/2020Convention