Don't Worry about the Moon

The world gets stranger and stranger - as I suppose we should expect as the current wicked system of things on the earth comes closer to its end.  Terrible terrible things are happening worldwide, but the headlines are all about our PM being accused of having held parties during lockdown.   I can' t bring myself to care if he did or if he didn't. It puzzles me why anyone ever wants to have a party anyway, especially when they have lockdown as the perfect excuse for not having one.  But then I am a solitary unsociable soul by nature.

Bea emailed to say she had finished Disraeli Hall and had enjoyed it. And - spoiler alert - she liked that I gave my heroine a very hopeful ending.  So that was a Saturday doubleplusgood, along with the field service, in Zoom.  I am helping to place a some magazines a sister brought round, so need to send slightly different letters with them.  The information in them is so valuable, so golden.  God's word - unlike human wisdom - never goes out of date.

You do not need to go out to a far distant field, with a metal detector, to find treasure.  The good news of the Kingdom of God, the pearl of great price, is coming to your doors, freely.

There was a big storm blowing in the North yesterday.  Dougal (exPlanetExpat, now in Scotland) reported that their power was out. And one poor lady has been killed by a falling tree...  Everything here was calm, and very dark last night, no sign of a storm being on its way. There was no moon visible.  I had hoped it might be making a path on the water, as that would have been a good introduction to this poem by Alison Brackenbury that I have loved for years. I don't think I have blogged it before.

But no moon walked on water or on square last night. Hopefully it is still up there though.

Outside the Circle, Alison Brackenbury

I worked through all your tricks, I slit the sleeves,

I tugged fine strings which joined the handkerchiefs.

The disappearing girl was always there

Crammed in compartments, false as her dyed hair.

I burned the cards you nicked with hidden signs.

Solid as smoke, the moon walks on the square.

Magician, can you call back half your loves?

Dust, the empty seats await you there.

Light, and the astonished flight of doves.

A Bit of a Panic

I had a bit of a panic on Tuesday as my assigned householder rang to say she could not do it on Thursday.  After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing I found a kind volunteer. She has been off the school for a while and hopefully this might get her started again. It is a bit of a stressful business - especially with these Zoom cameras - even though its only 4 minutes.

The script below is what we just delivered this evening.  Nobly, Captain B has let me practise it on him, and it came out at three and a half minutes, which gave us a bit of leeway. We didn't have to rush, and we spent a long time today practising it.

I invited the family to join us via Zoom - and Pen turned up just in time!  It was very nice to see her there in her Zoom box.

Sue: Hello. Its Sue Knight. I hope I haven't rung at a bad time. I just wanted to ask if the brochure I sent you after our chat last week has arrived.

HH:  Oh, yes, it did come. I’m afraid I haven’t had time to look at it yet though.

Sue:  No problem. I know how busy you are at the moment.  But this brochure is designed as an introduction to a personal study of the Bible, so I would love to show you a very short video “Why study the Bible?” just to give you the incentive to read it. Can I send it through to your phone (if I can master the technology here)?

HH:  OK.   Yes. I have it - I’ll have a look now as you say its very short  (watches it). 

https://www.jw.org/en/jehovahs-witnesses/request-a-visit/why-study-the-bible/

Well that WAS short and to the point, which I appreciated. And I know there are some very big questions when we have time to stop and think about them, but just for the moment my life is so hectic I feel I really need more help with the smaller short term ones.

Sue:  I do understand. We both know how much time and energy these health problems take, and you have that work going on with your house too. You have a lot to cope with and sometimes its hard to see the way through it all. And I do want you to know that help is available.  Do you have the brochure beside you?

HH: Yes I do.

Sue.  What do you think of the cover picture - of the man setting off on a journey? Does it look like he is going to be wandering aimlessly about the countryside, or does it look as if he is going somewhere.

HH:  Clearly he is going somewhere, there is a well marked path in front of him.

Sue:  Yes. And that is what the Bible is. It is a safe guide, one that not only leads us to the restored earthly paradise but will help us to cope with everything we have to deal with on the way - in the here and now.  Look, as you have the brochure there, could I ask you to turn to page 7 and read the second paragraph, under the heading “How does the Bible gives hope”.

HH:  "The Bible not only explains why the world is filled with problems but also shares the good news that these problems are temporary and will soon be gone. The Bible’s promises can “give you a future and a hope.” (Read Jeremiah 29:11, 12.) Those promises help us to cope with our present problems, to have a positive attitude, and to find lasting happiness."

Sue:  What especially appeals to you about that paragraph ?

HH:  Obviously when it says that all these problems are only temporary and they will soon be gone.   If I could be sure of that it would help so much.

Sue:  Yes. A good point. A real, sure hope makes all the difference.  Let me read you those loving words at Jer 29:11  “‘For I well know the thoughts that I am thinking toward you,’ declares Jehovah, ‘thoughts of peace, and not of calamity, to give you a future and a hope." That future and a hope, makes everything easier to deal with now.  And if you turn back to page 3 of this brochure, you will see that it discusses this question: How can the Bible help you?  If you would like I could ring you again and we could go through the points on that page together - as I think you will be as surprised as I was to find out how much practical help the Bible gives.

HH:  Yes. OK.  You can ring me at the weekend if you like. This time Saturday evening will be fine.

A Field of Detectorists

What would be a collective noun for Metal Detectorists?  A hoard of detectorists? An obsession of detectorists?  At any rate, here is a collection of them in a rather lovely field - where Col and Jim were detecting on Thursday.  And I also plan to add a sunrise Col took recently.   Jehovah's creation is infinitely wonderful - and we are only seeing just a glimpse of it from where we are.

I continue with my letters of course - still have not embarked on telephone witnessing...  and I have started to get my short stories out to see if I do have enough for a collection...  and I am wondering if I could write one more.  But what would it be about?  In one sense there is an infinity of themes, as the creation is infinitely varied. But there are times when I wonder if at the moment we really only have one theme, one story - and it is the story we are presently living in: Things have gone wrong, and they need to be put right.  Can we imagine any other?

But, after the Thousand Years, when the earth is the paradise it was always meant to be, and we, if we are there, are restored to the life and perfection our first parent lost, who knows what stories there might be?

I have a part in the Ministry School on Thursday night so must make myself get down to roughing it out.  The point I will be working on is the use of visual aids - not so easy when this will be a bit of telephone witnessing.

On Sunday Col found a Gold hammered coin!  It is very thin, and folded over in one corner. It seems it is a Roman coin, but unusual in that it is so thin.  He will be doing some research into this.  I am sure a picture of it, in all its gleaming glory, will appear on his blog in time.  

Which reminds me. Aren't we about due for a new series of Aussie Gold Hunters?  I long to know what they are all doing now.  

WORDLE! WORDLE! WORDLE!

We - Col, me, family and friends - have become Wordle addicts and play it every morning and show off our results on facebook when we succeed (and mutter that the sun was in our eyes when we fail).

I hope it is not fiddling while Rome burns, given the disasters that keep coming.  A tsunami has hit the island of Tonga, after an undersea volcanic eruption. There has not been much news of what has happened, as it seems communications have been knocked out.  So as yet we don't know the extent of the tragedy.  I do remember seeing those videos of the Boxing Day tsunami, and the terrifying power of that water.   I also remember that when he was on the earth Jesus calmed the storm on the Sea of Galilee, causing his disciples to ask:  "What sort of person is this?  Even the winds and the sea obey him.”

How much we need the government that can bring the natural forces back into perfect harmony, and rule us with loving-kindness.  And I am not forgetting to keep publishing the good news of the Kingdom of God - I have done a few hours of field service and meetings of far, this week and hope to do more.  Captain Butterfly kindly posted the letters for me.  The postbox is only just across the road, but my feet are so painful I can't really wear shoes at the moment.

I Teemed with the siblings on Monday - South Yorkshire, to East Yorkhire, to the South Coast, to Oz.  All seem well, and our Teem hour together hurtled past as quickly as it usually does.  And of course I have spoken to Jean and Jackie by phone.  Both not so OK - as we are all now past our sell by dates.

Oh and I have entered Fantastic Books Flash Fiction short story competition, with my story Talky Tin.  It is about an alien invasion and was inspired by the Stuart Aken quote on the site:

https://www.fantasticbooksstore.com/competitions/competition-anthologies-and-winners-circle/flash-fiction-charity-competition

Why not have a go?  There is a selection of quotes to inspire you - one of mine is included! (from Till They Dropped).  And your entry can be as short as a Haiku - 17 syllables - or as long as 500 words. And anywhere in between.  I think Talky Tin is about 300 words.  The entry fee is a donation to either of the charities nominated on the site - a donation of whatever you feel able to make.  Your donation will not feature in the judging.

I have my Annual Health Review this morning...  enough said really.

To return briefly to the theme of this blog, my bro posted this on facebook on Thursday morning:  "My favourite cartoonist, Cathy Wilcox of the Melbourne Age/Sydney Morning Herald, posted a sign from outside her local bookstore: "If you like Wordle, think how much you'll enjoy a whole bookle!""

Amen to that!

Anyway, I must away and do today's WORDLE - twitch twitch

Another Review of "Disraeli Hall"

I have another review of Disraeli Hall on my Amazon page!  It is wonderful when someone enjoys reading it and takes time to say so.  Thank you Jenny Ryan, whose review it is.  And thanks for wanting to read the next one.  It may be a book of short stories.

"Disraeli Hall by Sue Knight marks a change from the dystopean style of 'Waiting for Gordo' and 'Till they Dropped' but still manages to include oppressive atmospheres and scary incidents alongside an interesting variety of characters ranging from the sinister to the charmingly eccentric.
The author herself draws parallels to the works of Daphne Du Maurier but there are also definite Bronte-like overtones in the descriptions of the Derbyshire landscape and the brooding new home of newly-married Sara, an engaging character who finds life with her new husband does not entirely live up to her expectations. By the end of the book she has had to draw on a hitherto unsuspected strength of character to battle through some difficult and at times dangerous situations which would have sent me scuttling back to the safety of London.
The ending ties everything up in a highly satisfactory manner and leaves the reader on a more optimistic note than the previous novels - something I for one appreciated in these uncertain times. Roll on the next book!"

 I am happy that my reviewer notes how much more optimistic this book is.  The Bible message has filled me full of hope.  

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Toothworks and Stoneworks

Should I just have settled for the Toothless Old Crone look?  Time will tell I suppose.  I hope I did not embark on this implant project out of vanity - though after 2 years of seeing myself on Zoom cameras its hard to find anything to be vain about.  Because if so it would all serve me right I guess.  But I think it was more that I want to avoid having any more detachable bits if possible. I already spend one half of my life searching for my specs, and the other half searching for my hearing aids. Where am I going to find the time to be looking for my teeth as well?  

Some good news anyway - my physio appointment on Friday was cancelled and moved to March. No Gym lesson!  Hurray.  Though I must add that my young physio is really lovely, kind and patient, nothing like the Gym teachers of old.

The Dental Surgeon was an hour late getting to the appointment on Wednesday - he has to drive up from Kent - so I was getting more and more anxious during the long wait, and my poor dentist had to leave his client in the chair and come out and calm me down and persuade me to stay. And I am grateful he did, as it is now nearly all done - hopefully - assuming it heals properly this time.  It hurt a lot Wednesday night - a lot - which it did not last time, which worried me a bit, but it all seems fine now, just a slight ache, which is encouraging.

Talking of engineering projects, there is a new one about now, which involves knocking down statues of people who are politically out of favour. They were once clearly very in favour (or there would not be statues of them), but they are now "baddies" where they were once "goodies" and down they must come.  

The sight of a mob taking them down is scary as it is only too easy to imagine what could happen to a living person who became similarly targeted. Also it looks dangerous from a health and safety angle. These are chunks of stone, crashing down from a great height into a crowd.

I am glad no-one was hurt at this latest one:. "A man has climbed on to the front of the BBC’s Broadcasting House headquarters and used a hammer to damage a prominent statue by Eric Gill, as another man shouted about the artist’s history of paedophilia."

This looked very dangerous and the Police are being criticised for standing by, but i don't think I can blame them, as the law has just ruled that you may tear down statues if you have a sincere objection to them. Which the article does admit:

"The damage to the BBC artwork comes shortly after a jury cleared four individuals of criminal damage after they removed a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston from its plinth in Bristol and dumped it in the city’s harbour. They successfully argued that they had been making a sincere protest against the Colston statue, were exercising their right to free speech, and insisted it was a criminal offence to keep that statue up because it was offensive."

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/jan/12/man-uses-hammer-to-attack-statue-on-front-of-bbc-broadcasting-house

How do I feel about Slave traders and Eric Gill?  And would I want to put up a statue of them or by them?  Well, no.  Never.  But the problem with every statue ever erected - including of those who are goodies at the moment - is that they are all of (or by) very flawed and imperfect human beings.  We are all the damaged, dying children of disobedient Adam, all born missing the mark of perfection, through no fault of our own.  None of us are flawless heroes, worthy of a statue.

And maybe the Eric Gill statue should stand there as a red flag warning, as wasn't the BBC the home of Jimmy Saville?   It could justly signal: Be wary of the product of this organisation.

For me the best statues are those lovely giant Arabic coffee pots that used to brighten up the traffic islands of the Middle East.  My favourite Arabic statue of all was at the Pearl Roundabout in Bahrain, where a magnificent pearl was mounted on slender spirals of concrete.

Sadly that too was torn down - for political reason - by the Bahraini Government, who seemed to feel it had become a focus for minority group protests.  So maybe we should just give up the whole business of statuary, but let the existing ones stand, as they do on the whole signal that human history since the loss of Eden has been a tragedy.

They will all go when Jehovah removes every vestige of the current wicked system of things from the earth.  Wouldn't the best and safest thing be to leave it up to Him?

The Flower and the Fuse

I was trying to remember a line from a Dylan Thomas poem in the early hours:  "The force that through the green fuse drives the flower."  I can't remember the poem, but that line has stayed with me. When I was a child living in the house I call 5 Disraeli Crescent in "Disraeli Hall", I used to watch every Spring for the lupin shoots appearing in my father's cherished garden.

He always had them. They reminded him of his childhood, when the local farmers would rest the fields every 5 or maybe 7 years by planting them with lupins.  And I would watch these little green shoots appear in the black earth and turn themselves into perfect little lupins. I knew I was watching a miracle, though I didn't back then define it as that. I just knew.  And in any case, the world wants us all to believe in the theory of evolution, not the miracle of creation. So we are not encouraged to think about what the creation is so clearly telling us.

It took me many years before I found out what the force that drives the flower is.  It is of course the spirit of our Grand Creator, the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.  

I mention my father's love of the lupin fields of his childhood at the end of Disraeli Hall, and I found the above lupin photo to head my blog. Its one Captain Butterfly took in our local park.

It's a dental week, sadly.  Poor Col had a root canal yesterday, which has left some more work to be done - and I have a session with the Dental surgeon today, which I am truly dreading.  While Col was suffering I was in a long session with some siblings working on our return visits.

And I plan to spend the morning in the Zoom field service with another of my siblings, which will give me something positive to think about.

After Poussin

 

Captain B took this photo of one of my brother-in-law Ken Reah's paintings. It is after a painting by Poussin, called, I think "Man Washing Feet" or maybe "Peasant Washing Feet", or maybe "Nobleman who Paid for this Painting Washing His Feet", but he would probably have servants to do it for him.

If you look carefully you will see my sister and Sally the dog disappearing into the middle distance.   

Friday began well with a field service meeting and I got my letter witnessing re-started.  The afternoon went a bit downhill as it is that Tax time of year. I spent much of the afternoon doing long divisions all involving the number 12, and realised that I no longer remember my Twelve Times Table!  Is this the beginning of the end? At least I can still remember how to do long division.

Captain B does the awful on-line form.

We have to make this titanic effort every year all for nothing as we never owe any taxes or are due any back.  We just seem to plod along in neutral.

I feel sure there will be no money, or taxes, when the earth is restored to paradise. What would money be for? Who would need it, and why? There is plenty for everyone on the earth even now, even as things are, but war, politics, greed, incompetence, natural disasters (as we cannot control the natural forces). the fact that "it does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step", all get in the way.

Saturday was very rainy and a sodden Col and Jim left the detecting fields early - a most unusual occurrence.  It is sunny this morning, and they left not quite as early as usual for a field not quite so far away.

Cosmos

The Captain and I found, watched and enjoyed a Netflix movie called Cosmos. It has a small cast, the location is very tight to one car in one midnight forest, plus of course the night sky, and... you will have to watch it to find out.  It was gripping, and reminded us that it is all in the writing. Give actors a good script (and a good director) and its amazing what they can do.

We also watched Aliens on the telly last night. Again, of course.  Watchable, with some scary moments, but, I feel more could have been done scriptwise, and less specialeffectswise in that the more we see of the aliens, the less scary they are. I found myself wondering: How big was the cornflake packet THAT came out of?   They are better only glimpsed.  Also the thought of us arriving on an alien planet and doing our best to wipe out whatever life we find there is horribly reminiscent of what we have done on this planet.

It could have been called "Farewell to the Tasmanian Tiger", given how efficiently we wiped out those poor creatures.

Wednesday - Dentist - the thought of which blighted the previous days.  My next bout of dental surgery is now arranged for next week - so it has healed up OK after the last problem.  My routine check up and clean went OK, for which I do thank God.  

I was wondering about opting out, and settling for the "banned from every pub in town for fighting" look.  Is there any chance Kate Moss or equivalent might be about to make such a look fashionable?  Anyway, I wasn't given the chance.  The appointment was made for me there and then, and its hard to argue about anything when you have a mouthful of dental instruments.

Woke up this morning - after a bad night, severe pain in right leg, got up, took pain killers, after dreams about being lost at mysterious station (Mexborough?)  and trying to get home (to Sheffield, which hasn't been home for a long time), every time I went off to ask when the next train to Sheffield was due it would arrive and hurtle off without me (why do I do this to myself?) - anyway, I was going to say that we woke up to a heavy frost, though its sunny now.  I just hope that the roads are OK for Col, Jim and the Detectorists.

The human brain and its complex workings are an amazing thing, even at my advanced age.  Doesn't science now say that it looks as if the human brain was made to go on making connections for ever? Which is exactly in harmony with what Genesis says. Our first parents were made to live forever, not to die.  They would only die if they disobeyed their Creator's one command, thus cutting themselves (and us, their unborn children) off from their Creator, their Source of life.

But please think about the prospect that Jehovah is holding out to every one of Adam's damaged children - us.  He is offering us a return to the life and perfection our first parents so tragically threw away.  As the book of Revelation says:  

"The spirit and the bride keep on saying: ‘Come!’ . . . Let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free.”​—REV. 22:17

In the Year Twenty Twenty Two (we arrive safely home, with cake)

Above is Tabs, one of Janet's cats, now settled with my sister at the bungalow.  They are both thrilled to have the catflaps open and be allowed outside, but they clearly know where home is.

Well, we made it here - to 2022.  We were woken by fireworks as the new year arrived and went straight back to sleep.  But what will this year bring?   

There are such momentous things ahead, according to Bible prophecy.  And, if you study it, you will find that none of it has failed yet.  You are so welcome to join us at any of our Zoom meetings.  Please just ask. In the midweek meeting, the School, we are studying the prophecy of Ezekiel - the fulfillment of which is imminent and will be fear-inspiring when it comes.  Though as long as we trust in Jehovah with all our hearts, we do not need to be afraid.  It will mark the end of the current wicked system of things on the earth, and the beginning of the Thousand Years, during which the earth will be restored to the paradise of peace it was always meant to be.

The weather is still strangely warm, and there was a torrential downpour on Sunday afternoon. The drain on the balcony could not cope.  The Captain, Jim, and the Metal detectorists were out in it.  They found nothing beyond a Roman grot or two, but enjoyed themselves (I assume, as they keep going back for more).

My project this week - having re-stocked the freezer with cake - is to write to those we saw over the hols - to say thanks for some lovely hospitality. So I must go off and put quill pen to parchment, so my letters can catch the next stagecoach heading to Old London Town. Then they must journey on, through the savage highwayman-infested wilderness that lies North of Watford Gap, until, hopefully, they reach family and friends.

We stopped at the Watford Gap Services on the way down, and I wondered how many times in my life I have stopped off there, as we have travelled up and down the M1 so many times.  It was just a loo stop, we travel with our own lunch - sandwiches and home made cake. In this case, it was Helen's mince pies. They are the Olympic Gold of mince pies.  What a good thing none of those highwaymen knew we had them on us!  And we had some of Jen's mandarin cake for our supper (along with some veggie soup).  It was such a marvelously light sponge we could have done with one of the Victorian Cake Anchors I invented in Disraeli Hall to hold it on our plates.