O Snowdrop!

Captain Butterfly had an outing - legal - to a bit of local woodland on Friday and brought back a photo of snowdrops!  And that too makes me want to write a Haiku, which will begin "O Snowdrop!"  but unfortunately I can't seem to get any further.  At least its shorter than my usual attempts.

And I think I have to add this wonderful sunset pic too - shot from our balcony on Thursday.

I had a rare outing on Thursday - to drive with Captain B to deliver a copy of my book "Waiting for Gordo".  It was only just down the road, but I could not remember the numbet of her house and Google maps did not make it clear.  Strange to be outside again even for 5 minutes.

And I said I would get back to the great scientist Sir Isaac Newton.   Because when discussing Bible prophecy with my friend across The Pond, I found that the Watchtower has published quite a lot about Sir Isaac, and I came across this:

"The famous mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) also had a keen interest in the Bible. He understood that the holy ones will be raised to heavenly life and will rule invisibly with Christ. (Rev. 5:9, 10) As for the subjects of the Kingdom, he wrote: “The earth shall continue to be inhabited by mortals after the day of judgment and that not only for a 1000 years but even for ever.”

Newton considered Christ’s presence to be centuries away. “One reason why Newton saw the Kingdom of God so far in the future was because he was profoundly pessimistic about the deep Trinitarian apostasy he saw around him,” said historian Stephen Snobelen. The good news was still veiled. And Newton saw no Christian movement that could preach it. He wrote: “These prophecies of Daniel and John [the latter recorded in the book of Revelation] should not be understood till the time of the end.” Newton explained: “‘Then,’ saith Daniel, ‘many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ For the Gospel must be preached in all nations before the great tribulation, and end of the world. The palm-bearing multitude, which come out of this great tribulation, cannot be innumerable out of all nations, unless they be made so by the preaching of the Gospel before it comes.”​—Dan. 12:4; Matt. 24:14; Rev. 7:9, 10."

He really knew his Bible.    The Apostle Paul himself had to correct some Christians in the earliest days of Christianity

"However, brothers, concerning the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you  not to be quickly shaken from your reason nor to be alarmed either by an inspired statement or by a spoken message or by a letter appearing to be from us, to the effect that the day of Jehovah is here.  Let no one lead you astray in any way, because it will not come unless the apostasy comes first and the man of lawlessness gets revealed, the son of destruction." - 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

It is not until the time of Christ's presence that the truth can be preached, worldwide.  Often in the face of great persecution, yes, but continuing.   I was taught about the Kingdom of God, 30 plus years ago, when two Jehovah's Witnesses called at my door.  And I now try to tell others - though not door to door at the moment!

Ponds

Here is a little Haiku masterpiece by Matsuo Basho:

An old silent pond...

A frog jumps into the pond,

splash! Silence again.

And here is one from Sue Knighto:

Splash! An old silent pond

My hearing aids

just fell in.

(So actually

I would not have heard

that Splash!)

For sure, I do not have the mastery of the form that Basho has. I am not a very discursive writer, but even so the brevity of the Haiku form has defeated me again.  But hopefully it says something about the difficulties of old age, when so many of the bits of you that were once permanently attached are now detachable - and can fall into ponds.

I talked to my siblings Wednesday morning after the Field Service Zoom group.  And I have started a very interesting email correspondence with a facebook friend from across  The Pond.  He wants to talk about Bible prophecy!

And he clearly knows a lot about the Inspired Scriptures.  In part he says. "Isaac Newton, the greatest intellect ever produced by the human race, was a forerunner of JW. He rejected the Trinity and said Christendom lost its way in fourth century. He applied his great mathematical skills to working out a timetable of Biblical prophecy. You’ll be amazed at what he wrote."

I hope to continue this theme in my next blog.

A Part in the School

I managed to get two letters done, dusted and sent - to Kathryn and Linda, enclosing a small leaflet in each.  Both of them are rightly troubled by the way the world is.  And, unfortunately, as my Smartphone seems to have a much higher IQ than me, I didn't manage to find the message from the brother taking the school asking if I was OK and prepared until after I had done my part. By which time, of course, he knew.

Anyway, here it is. I had the Bible Study - a first for me  - which is a 5 minute part.  And I had to work on: practical value made clear:

Sue:  Now we come to the last paragraph in this chapter: How can drawing close to God benefit you?  Would you read it .

Student reads: "Jehovah cares for those who love him. He can protect them from anything that could jeopardize their faith and their hope of everlasting life.  He warns us against ways of life that threaten our health and happiness. Jehovah teaches us the best way of life.​"

Sue: So do you notice it says that Jehovah can protect them, which is to say, us, you and me, from anything that might prevent us drawing close to him and having the everlasting life in the restored earthly paradise that he wants for us?  Only I know from what you tell me that although you do like what you are hearing and feel it is truly Bible based, you do have a problem with the idea of any kind of organised religion.   

Student:  Yes, after my experiences in childhood, I feel I never want to be part of a religious group again, but I do love what I am learning. 

Sue: Yes, I can see from what you have told me why this is such a problem for you. Be sure that Jehovah completely understands and can and will help you.  Let's look at Psalm 91:1,2, which is quoted in the para. It says: "Anyone dwelling in the secret place of the Most High Will lodge under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say to Jehovah: “You are my refuge and my stronghold, My God in whom I trust.”   How do you feel about that?  

Student:  Jehovah is telling us we can trust him, which is very reassuring.

Sue:  Yes.  We can trust everything written in his inspired word to set things straight for us. And we can also pour out our hearts to him in prayer and be sure he will hear us.  So please tell him of all your difficulties, and ask for his help.  And as you continue with your study you will find real help in the next chapters, as they explain why Jehovah congregates his people, and how this benefits us.  And think too about how he is already helping us, right now.  Have you noticed changes in your life since you began studying the Bible?

Student:  Funnily enough, my husband has noticed something. He says I have become much calmer.  And I must admit that I have found the whole Lockdown very stressful.  Its not just the Covid crisis but all the awful things happening in the world. I found myself watching every News programme going and getting more and more anxious. But since we began this study find I am not obsessed with the news anymore.

Sue:  I am so glad he has noticed a new calmness about you. Do you think it is because of what you are  learning?

Student:  Yes, I do.  I think that learning about the Kingdom - what it is, and what it will do is so reassuring.   Oh, and I have learnt to use Zoom too to do this study. My husband is quite impressed with that.  

Sue:  Me too!  I never thought I would be Zooming away like this.  And as for calmness, I don't understand how people cope without the good news of the Kingdom.  So Jehovah can help us in every way - and he also helps us to help others.  And to underline that point, shall we read one more of the quoted Scriptures before we finish the study for today. Would you like to read Psalm 73:28

Student reads Psalm 73:28:  "But as for me, drawing near to God is good for me. I have made the Sovereign Lord Jehovah my refuge, to declare all your works." 

Sue:  Drawing close to God is good for us. Jehovah not only offers us a wonderful future, but he can be such a refuge, such a comfort, right now.  We do not have to wait until the paradise earth to start feeling the benefits of serving him.  We will finish the study here as its the end of the chapter, and I will say thank you in prayer. 

O Kingfisher! O Snail! O Sue!

The Twitcher grapevine said that a Kingfisher had taken up residence in our small local park, so on Monday Captain Butterfly flew off, a camera at every corner, to see if he could catch it on film.   It was elusive, as you can see. But it was definitely there.

I wanted to write a Haiku to welcome it, but all I have managed is this:

O Kingfisher

Poised in park

Stickleback has suitcase packed.

The poet Kobayashi Issa would have done wonders with much the same words, though less of them.  And he might have cleverly turned it all round so that, in seeing the Stickleback hurriedly packing its suitcase, you would intuit the Kingfisher. 

Here is one of his, and one of my favourite Haiku:

O snail

Climb Mount  Fuji.

But slowly, slowly.

I am in a lot of pain at the moment. It hurts to move. So if the poet was  here watching me hobble painfully around, every snail in town hurtling past me, he might be inspired to write 

"O Sue, 

Don't try 

Climbing Mount Fuji."   

Wednesday was a day of Zooming - field service meeting first thing in the morning - siblings later on in the morning - my student and rehearsing our part in  the Ministry School in the afternoon, and a Zoom chat with J in the evening.  

And to return to the exquisite beauty and engineering of the Kingfisher, I want this blog to honour its Creator, Jehovah, as well as welcome it.  As Ecclesiastes 3:11 says of Jehovah:  "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has even put eternity in their heart; yet mankind will never find out the work that the true God has made from start to finish."

Yes. Jehovah has put eternity into our hearts.  Seventy and a bit more years is such a short time to spend on this lovely earth, to spend with the people we love.  There is so much to see, so much to know, so much to think about, even as things are now.  But when the earthly paradise is restored, and our real lives begin...  lets hope we are all there to find out.

And we can be. Jehovah is holding out his hands to everyone - inviting everyone.

Another Weekend in Lockdown

Shouldn't I be going stir crazy or something? Yet the days are flying by.  Maybe its my age?  

I am starting this on Sunday night and I don't know where the weekend went to.   This morning it was the meeting, followed by the chat groups , then lunch for Captain and B myself - chicken veggie soup and  yoghurt.  Then a rugby match for Himself - and a chase for me  (by phone and email) to find the land line for the sister who is my partner in the Ministry School on Thursday. 

I began working on my new territory and have ten letters ready to go. Oh and I got supper for us - cottage pir and veggies for himself - veggie chile for me - mashed potato is lethat when you have diabetes. Alas.

The best chile I ever made was in our Expat years, when we entertained a lot.  The Captain rang me to say he was bringing his dive class from the beach and could I have a hot lunch ready for them.  I was young then - and had a large American kitchen  - and we entertained a lot.  A different world.

Anyway, l made a giant chile which incorporated the left over curry from our curry evening the night before and served it with rice, cheese, and a large salad.  And it was lovely. So tasty - second helping all round. And I will never be able to re-create it.  

And Saturday was the meeting for Field Service, followed by a get together with a couple of siblings so we could help and encourage each other.  I probably fell asleep during the afternoon while the Captain watched the Rugby and I dreamed strange dreams punctuated by cries of GET YOUR SPECS ON REF!

Today I am in such pain arthritis wise I don't think I will even be typing much, but hopefully I can get on with editing job I need to do before Wednesday. 

I would love to encourage you all (both my readers...) to join your local congregation via Zoom for our weekly study of the Book of Ezekiel - it is stunningly relevant to the times we are living in.  You can even turn up at our congregation on Thursday night and see me do my part in the Ministry School.  However I may suddenly disappear from your screen with my hand clamped over my mouth.  My two front teeth - crowns - are about to fall out at any moment - and my dentist seems to be off-duty for the Covid duration.  Not that I can blame him, dentists are really in the front line.

His last words to me were a cheerful "Take care!  They could fall out at any moment."

I am going to ask my partner if she can have her husband on standby, with the script. Just in case Toothmageddon occurs.  Then he can step in and take over.

And I will finish with a little poem - verse? -  I wrote years ago. The power of the waves yesterday reminded me of it.  It was a wonderfully stormy Channel.

HI, TIDE  by me

The sea had long wanted to go into town

So, early one morning, it roared in

Found the arcades still closed

And battered them down.

Snowflakes

And I am using the word "snowflake" in the old-fashioned sense, to mean flakes of falling snow, not people who are very quick to take offense.    Quite large flakes were falling on Wednesday, but not very many of them, and not enough to settle.

And every snowflake is different.  What does that tell us about the intricacy, the variety of the creation - all the creation, not only the earthly creation.  We get a wonderful glimpse of the immense universe when we look up into the night sky on a clear night and see a dizzying vista of stars - more than we can imagine.  And each one of those is different too.  

As 1 Corinthians 15:41 says:  "The glory of the sun is one sort, and the glory of the moon is another, and the glory of the stars is another; in fact, one star differs from another star in glory."

One star differs from another star in glory.

Regarding the other kind of snowlake, Ecclesiastes 7:9 tell us  "Do not be quick to take offense, for the taking of offense lodges in the bosom of fools."

We can take that wise advice.  Or not.  It is up to us.  But everything Jehovah teaches us is for our benefit. We can trust him.

I got my long road (of letters) finished today and Captain Butterfly posted them.  We talked to Bea and Jacks on the phone yesterday.  I have been working on my talk for Thursday, and I hosted a Zoom meeting this morning for the field service. 

Storm Darcy Strikes!

And it has left Green and Gardens sprinkled with a bit of snow! Ok, its not exactly the top of Everest in midwinter, but it looks pretty and reminds us that it is Winter, not Spring.  I hope that the poor butterfly that suddenly emerged from hibernation in our kitchen and flew out the window on a recent day of sunshine realised its mistake and has found another hidey hole.  

John Clare wrote a poem about how deceptive the sunshine of February can be. This is from the poem "February" in his "Shepherd's Calendar".  It begins:

"The snow is gone from cottage tops...

The sun peeps through the window pane

Which children mark wi laughing eye

And to the wet street steal again

To tell each other spring is nigh..."

and it ends:

"Nature soon sickens of her joys-

And all is sad and dumb again

Save merry shouts of sliding boys

About the frozen furrowed plain

The foddering boy forgets his song

And silent goes wi folded arms

And croodling shepherds bend along

Crouching to the whizzing storms."

Snow is beautiful and fun, but not so much if you have to be out there making a living in it - be you man or butterfly.  I hope our butterfly is croodling somewhere, i.e. huddled together with other butterflies for warmth.

When God's Kingdom rules over the earth, all will be back into the perfect balance that prevailed in Eden. How it will be, we don't know. How to achieve it for ourselves, we certainly do not know! As Jeremiah, speaking under inspiration, so rightly warns us: "It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step."  But we can be sure it will be wonderful, not just for us, but for all the earthly creation. And for all the heavenly creation too. They will rejoice to see paradise restored.  

We had a flurry of emails with Linda yesterday - ex-Planet Expat - and, talking of old friends, it seems there may be a Whatsapp conference coming up - USA, to UK, to Thailand - reuniting some of us Newcastle Uni Alumni.  It will be a shock given some of us haven't seen each other for - gulp - 50 years.  

Buff Gold Dandies

There was a flock of goldfinch - a glitter of goldfinch? -  in our gardens on Wednesday afternoon - dining off the new buds on the trees we think. Which has given me another chance to post this great poem, which I wish I had written:

GOLDFINCH
by
Gerry Cambridge

That finch which sings above my head
last year's speckled egg, is now
a partner to some nest instead,
that finch which sings above my head,
buff-gold dandy masked with red,
and hen on eggs above some swaying bough
that finch which sings. Above my head
last year's speckled egg, is now.

I could also have called this blog FLOOD! as the bathroom cistern leaked and we found the bathroom awash with water.  The lino is drying out in the hall as I type this (on Thursday).

Thank God, it has not affected our neighbour below. We caught it in time.  The washing machine will be going non-stop as we had to use just about every towel in the house for mopping up operations.   And I suddenly realised, at the Thursday night meeting, that my Zoom background was rackload on rackload of drying towels. I had to hastily - and discreetly, I hope - re-arrange the kitchen.

We got to talk to Chuck and his daughter - Texas to Sussex - on Skype. And that brought back all sorts of memories from our expat days. Camping in the desert, weekends in Bahrain, house-sitting with kittens.

Who knows where the time goes?   And how short our lives are now.  How far we have come from the perfection of Eden.

However, here are some comforting words from Jesus himself.  When speaking of the time of his presence, the times we are ilving in now, after comparing them to "the days of Noah", he said this:

"But as these things start to occur, stand up straight and lift up your heads, because your deliverance is getting near.” - Luke 21:28

Our deliverance is getting near.  And how much we need it.

The Comet

I was waiting for my painkillers to kick in yesterday morning, and waiting and waiting, when it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn't actually taken them.  Which could be why they hadn't worked.  Not that they do all that much at best. I think only a strong dose of morphine would really touch arthritis pain, and they won't give me that.

We had a busy lockdown Wednesday - two food deliveries - and three Zoom sessions - with my siblings in the morning and our separate Zooms in the evening; the Captain to meet up with the metal detector crew, me to meet up with a friend.

What would be a collective noun for metal detectorists?  Clearly a hoard - a Hoard of Detectorists.

We - the siblings - were remembering various funny and scary experiences from our travelling days today.  One of which I have referenced in "Waiting for Gordo" by giving a large Maldivian cockroach a role in the drama.  And John was talking about the time he looked out of his plane window, at night, as saw a comet sailng past in all its glory.

That reminded me of a lovely snd sad Hardy Poem, which I sent round the family.  

The Comet At Valbury Or Yell'ham

I

It bends far over Yell'ham Plain,
   And we, from Yell'ham Height,
Stand and regard its fiery train,
   So soon to swim from sight.

II

It will return long years hence, when
   As now its strange swift shine
Will fall on Yell'ham; but not then
   On that sweet form of thine.

Thomas Hardy 

https://internetpoem.com/thomas-hardy/the-comet-at-valbury-or-yell-ham-poem/

The Call of the Curlew, a Dabble of Ducks

On Sunday night we listened to the second part of the SOS AGM.   The talks on Saturday were about the Curlew, and its haunting call - the trouble it is in, and the efforts being made to help it.  The second was from a couple who lived by the Straits of Gibraltar, where Europe and Africa gaze at each other across the sea - and the immense flights of migrating birds that are in the skies there.  

Of course they wisely cross where the flight over water is the shortest.   I have no idea where the expression "bird brain" came from!   Jehovah made the birds very wise indeed.  They could hardly have survived the tragedy on the earth since the loss of Eden if it had not been so.

There was a charming picture of ducks a'dabbling in the Self Isolating Bird Club (fb), that recalled a favourite poem from childhood that I posted, and that was "liked" a lot.  I still love it to this day.

What a wonderful gift language is.  And we now understand that animals too have a complex language of their own.   Here they speak to us, in human, courtesy of Kenneth Grahame.

Ducks' Ditty

by Kenneth Grahame

All along the backwater,
Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling,
Up tails all.

Ducks’ tails, drake’s tails,
Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight,
Busy in the river!

Slushy green undergrowth
Where the roach swim--
Here we keep our larder,
Cool and full and dim.

Everyone for what he likes!
We like to be
Heads down, tails up,
Dabbling free!

High in the blue above
Swifts whirl and call--
We are down a-dabbling,
Up tails all.

  https://randomnoodling.blogspot.com/2013/10/poetry-friday-ducks-ditty.html