Floods and Droughts

Alarming scenes on the News on Monday night - floods in Pakistan, and drought in Spain.  It is, I believe, monsoon in Pakistan, and floods are sadly expected, but these are on a new scale. And they are dispossessing the poor of what little they had.  One young man was driving his herd of skinny cattle through the mud trying to find somewhere they could feed and keep them - and therefore his family - alive.  They were all he had left.

And parts of Spain look as dry as the Saudi desert. Hence the photos above - one of the Rub al Khali (the Empty Quarter, Saudi Arabia), and one taken many years ago on the Dhahran to Abqaiq road. 

The olive harvest is failing - the trees are surviving, but are producing very little in the way of fruit.  So no doubt many smallholders and farmers in Spain are facing desperate times too.

If we have a very hard winter here. combined with frightening fuel prices, and a collapsing NHS, we also will be in for some hard times.  

How much we need a government that can perfectly control the weather - and everything. One that can manage us properly, and with real love. We truly do believe that the Kingdom of God is so close now, and are doing our best to tell you. We are back out on the doors from Thursday on, which is making me very anxious.

After a hiatus, the walkers on the balcony returned on Tuesday morning and there were more bangings and clatterings and cries of "Oh Dear!" (or words to that effect) when things were dropped on toes.

I was thrilled to be asked by one of my readers when my next book was coming out. It will be a book of short stories if and when it does come out, and I am struggling with one of them now, trying to make it come to life. And I am considering publishing the first chapter of "Small Island", the book that was published as "Waiting for Gordo", as a short story in its own right. 

I began the book when my party of divers was helicoptered to a small sandbar in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The helicopter left us, and there we were, no shade, no nothing, waiting for a boat that was apparently coming from one of the islands on the far horizon.

Clearly there is a story there.  But when I had written the book, I realised that the story had nothing to do with the beginning on the sandbar and that it must start on the island itself. I still have the first chapter and am hoping I can do something with it - shortstorywise.

And what more could any author ask for, that people are looking forward to their next book?  That was so encouraging.

Balcony Walkers

Captain Moth-Butterfly had a very busy week - and he was off again on Friday to help search for a lost locket.  It was an all-day search, but alas no locket found.

On the same morning, a workman suddenly appeared on the balcony. I thought Col was out there watering the plants - then the two remaining brain cells whirling round the large empty space inside my head must have collided and produced a thought, or two.

Thought 1:  There are no plants on the balcony, they are all indoors.

Thought 2:  Col is in the kitchen, flying the coffee machine.

Conclusion:  The workmen are back.

Action:   Draw the curtains - gives both parties a bit of privacy.

I drove myself to the Hall for the Thursday night meeting.  I still haven't braved any return visits though. Not that I have many, if any. It is Jean's I am worrying about. She had long-standing calls, some of whom always asked us in for tea and a chat. One lady has kept in touch with me all through the Lockdown and when I get my car back this week, I really must go and see her. She is very hospitable. A nice lady. But, as far as I can see, she has no interest in what we are trying to tell her.

So it will be social call I think. She is lonely since her husband of many years died and lockdown has been hard on her. I don't know how it would have been for me if I had been on my own.  The Captain is very good company and we can always make each other laugh.

I had planned to go to the Hall on Sunday morning but felt so strange and dizzy that I did not even dare have a shower.  Whether this is another step down in the manifestations of old age, or I am getting something I do not know.  I am hoping that if I do get Covid all the vaccinations I have had will kick in and keep it from being too serious.

Discomfort

Tuesday morning the builders returned. Legs appeared in our window walking across the scaffolding on the floor above.  Presumably the rest of them was there too.  I had had a bad night, with my foot giving me a lot of what hospitals call "discomfort" (as in: the Gestapo caused "discomfort" to those they were interrogating).

The air feels full of Autumn suddenly, which is why I chose a fungi photo (of a Fly Agaric by Captain Moth-Butterfly) for this blog - as we head towards September.

He got himself quite badly stung on Tuesday when he and his metal detector found a wasp's dwelling on the archaeological site.  And the wasps were at home, and were not pleased.

I managed quite a bit of field service on Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to tell all who will listen about the Kingdom of God, and what it is going to do for us here on the earth.  And I chatted to Curtis and to Linda in cyberspace.

Last night we had rolling thunderstorms in the early hours, and some more much needed rain.  Its a bit dark to tell how much, but the Green looks sodden, and may well be green again soon.

The increasing of lawlessness continues, almost taken for granted, but the recent shooting death of a 9 year old girl, in her own home, in Liverpool - caught in the crossfire - has made headlines.  Her mother had simply opened the door to see what the noise in the street was.  

Olivia was, apparently, trying to hide behind her mother when she was shot, when they were both shot.  It was a childhood nightmare, come to life.

What next?   Time will tell.  In the meantime young Olivia sleeps safe in "the everlasting arms", safe in Jehovah's memory, every hair of her head numbered.  He will not wake her from the dreamless sleep of death until the whole earth is at peace under the loving rule of the Kingdom of God.

Bea and Sue, Flying High (and a FLARE-UP)

We - Col, Bea and me - were watching the amazing Armand Duplantis at the European Games, as he pole-vaulted his way to victory. By the time he finished the bar was so high I was expecting a passing plane to come soaring under it, all its passengers cheering him on.  After he had finished dazzling us, and they had rescued him from the stratosphere, Bea (who had been watching from 'oop North) texted to suggest that she and i ought to have a go.

And what a team we would be - as long as they fitted a Stannah Srairlift and provided us with parachutes for the drop the other side. We are not as young as we were.   

Autumn is suddenly in the air.  You can feel the approaching season.  The workmen will return this week, but when they will finish I do not know.  We still need more rain, we have had some off and on, but not enough.

Sunday was the last of our PURSUE PEACE Convention Sessions.  The Convention ended on a talk that included what the Inspired Scriptures tell us will happen when the Thousand Years end.  And sadly my computer ended the session right in the middle of the lovely prayer of thanks one of our local elders was giving at the end.  

I had been banished to the kitchen as Col was home - not metal detecting for once - and his ipad (which I was using) ran out of charge about 1 minute before the convention ended.

I am in great pain today and back on my Zimmer - my left foot has been very painful and swollen for a couple of days now. I feel like I have flu, which is how I usually feel during an arthritis flare-up. But I was able to sleep, so is not as bad as it can be. Yet.

To cheer myself up - and hopefully my readers too -  I will end this blog with these lovely words from the last talk of the Convention:

"Next, the end, when he (Jesus) hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power. For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet. And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing. For God “subjected all things under his feet.” But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’ it is evident that this does not include the One who subjected all things to him. But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him, that God may be all things to everyone." - 1 Corinthians 15:24-28

The questions raised in Eden will have been answered once and for all time. Never again will we see suffering on the earth.  There will be no more sickness, old age and death.  And Jesus, unlike Satan, does not want worship for himself, so he hands everything over to his Father, Jehovah.

If we have the privilege of being there, we will be perfect, and our connection to our Creator, so tragically broken in Eden, will be restored. We will no longer be imperfect and dying, but perfect and living.

We do not yet know what that will feel like, but I hope that, at the end of the Thousand years, we will.   And then...  well who knows what happiness lies ahead. But we know. because Jehovah has told us so. that we will be joyful for ever in what he has created.

The Return!

I drove to the Kingdom Hall last night - for the first time in over two years, which is when we started Zooming. 

I had forgotten it would be dark when I drove back. And it is over two years since I drove anywhere after dark, so I spent some time searching for the light switch. I found the windscreen wipers, no problem, but as it wasn't raining that didn't help. For a moment I imagined I would be sleeping in my car until the first light of dawn.  But I remembered where they were and drove myself back in a blaze of headlights.

Being back in the Hall put me in mind of my first  visit to the Kingdom Hall in my Northern hometown, all those years ago. The Watchtower study that Sunday was about walking in Jesus' footsteps, and the speaker used an illustration that has stayed with me to this day.

If you were following someone through a very dangerous area - let us say Grimpen Mire (in the Hound of the Baskervilles) - a Mire that could swallow you whole if you stepped in the wrong bit and which, spoiler alert, conveniently swallowed up the villain - if you were following a guide through it, someone who knew the safe way, wouldn't you follow them very carefully, wouldn't you put your foot in the exact place where they put their foot?

You wouldn't think of taking a short cut!

So, as Peter himself said, we need to follow closely in Jesus' footsteps: "In fact, to this course you were called, because even Christ suffered for you, leaving a model for you to follow his steps closely." - 1 Peter 2:21

We are in a dangerous world system, one ruled by Satan the devil, but we will get through to the safety of the restored earthly paradise if we pay close attention to the teaching and example of Jesus Christ.

I am just on the point of finishing Curtis Urness book - very well written, excellently structured, but a very difficult subject.  If I do review it in my blog, it will be a very serious blogpost.

Superheroes!

 

Here is Captain Moth-Butterfly with his Medal - he was among the 28 members of SUSSAR who were presented with their Queen's Jubilee medal, by Chief Constable Jo Shiner and Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner Katy Bourne, for completing more than five years of voluntary service to the team.

https://www.sussar.org.uk/

It is good to know that they are appreciated. They work hard, and can be called out on search and rescues at all hours. He was out on one last night in fact, which ended well, in that the Misper (missing person to us laypeople) was found safe and well. And Captain M-B spent the weekend at an intensive First Aid class to keep himself up to date.

While he was on his weekend course, I was at the Zoom field service on Saturday, and at the Zoom Convention on Sunday. It was very very hot, very close, with no sea breeze to speak of. Rain is apparently on the way, with thunderstorms and flooding in parts of the country, but not here, yet.

It is overcast this morning though, so who knows. The workmen, for whom the scaffolding is in place did not turn up yesterday as they were scheduled. And, as yet, there is no sign of them today, but we live in hope.

We, the congregation, all Zoomed off to the Sunday morning of the PURSUE PEACE Convention on Sunday - you will find it on JW.org. The Symposium How They Sowed and Reaped Peace is very powerful. We looked at and analysed the efforts that people like Joseph and his brothers and Paul and Barnabas made to keep and to restore peace.

There is so much valuable advice, straight from the Inspired Scriptures, in that Symposium alone that I wish everyone in the world would devote an hour or so to watching and thinking about it.

As I am finishing this blog - at 8:20 a.m. I note that it has started raining - a gentle steady rain so far! Good news - but I expect it will delay the already delayed scaffolding-users.

JAWS! (and Nutley Windmill)

This used to be the land of windmills - and there are still some survivors. This is a great photo Captain B took on their last SUSSAR training evening.  It was the evening they got their Award too - details of which will appear in his blog - linked to my blog via The Captain's Log.

https://www.sussar.org.uk/

They are all volunteers and they work hard - training and raising money.  And it is good to know they are appreciated.

The JAWS! in my blog heading refers to me - not because I have been out at sea attacking paddle boarders (even if I wanted to do such a thing my expensive new teeth would not be up to it) but because it was my six monthly dental check up and clean and polish on Wednesday.  And, to my relief, my dentist seemed quite pleased with my teeth - good shape, "minimal bleeding". Though I guess "no bleeding at all" would be something to aim for.  And he acknowledged that the only problem in my mouth - a cracked tooth - is "not your fault". It was a tooth much weakened by fillings. And I already have my appointment for a crown at the end of September.

I really want to put it off but its so hard to find a dentist now - and, IF there should be another lockdown, he won't be working anyway. So I probably have to get it done while I still can.

I also have my next check up and clean booked for 2023, so I am doing what I can.  Will I still be here in March 2023 though?  Will the Captain still be here (awful thought)?  But we are on borrowed time now and must look on every day as a bonus.

And, by the way, who is shortening these millenniums?  This one is fairly racing along.

I can understand now that The Thousand Years of the Book of Revelation, during which the whole earth will become the paradise of peace it was always meant to be, will go by so quickly.  It will be a very joyful time, but our real lives on the earth won't begin until the end of it.

I hope we are all there to find out what happens next.

And by the way, why do we sometimes say that the sea is "infested" with sharks?  It is their home after all, they have no other.  Where do we expect them to go?

A Sea of Flowers

We enjoyed the Commonwealth Games - and Captain M-B has been admiring a Commentator - a young blonde ex-diver - called Tonia Couch. 

"Well, yes", I said as he stared dreamily at the screen, "She IS a lovely girl.  In fact, she is nearly as lovely as me wouldn't you say? ... Or you can have a black eye. The choice is yours."

"Er. You are differently lovely." he said, his eyes fixed firmly on the TV screen.

"Phew - got away with that one" came a relieved murmur, while I digested the comment.  Ouch.

I am thankful that he never came across her during her diving career, as I fear what the sight of her in her swimmie would have done to his blood pressure.

We are now in a sea of flowers - our lovely lilies/irises, pictured in yesterday's blog; our African violets; the table orchids which are flowering madly, and on Monday Col bought all our balcony flowers indoors, so I am sitting by a sea of geraniums and nemesia.  It's wonderful, like being in a garden.

The scaffolding was completed on Friday - bang CRASH swear swear CLANK - and in theory the builders could be here today to start the painting and re-pointing. So Col had to clear the balcony.

In theory. They could turn up in two months time.  At least the geraniums will flourish indoors if they have to.

I say we enjoyed the Commonwealth Games - and I thought that we did along with many others - but there was an article in Tuesday's Independent pretty much telling us that we were WORSE THAN HITLER for doing so.  The writer felt that the history of the Commonwealth, its legacy of colonialism and slavery, is not a pretty one.

Well - that is true of course.  Human history has been a tragedy since the loss of Eden.  How could it be otherwise?  Once our first parents made that fatal choice to cut themselves - and us, their unborn children - off from their Creator, their Source of life, their Source of wisdom and guidance, we have been adrift.  And worse that that, we did not even find the freedom to rule ourselves - check out 1 John 5:19 if you wish to. We fell into some very sinister hands.

It says:  "We know that we originate with God, but the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one."  The wicked one is Satan the devil - the ruler of the present system of things on the earth.

It is only the Kingdom of God that will end the rule of Satan, and end the time during which "man has dominated man to his harm".

In the meantime, it seems better to compete at sports in a reasonably good-natured way, rather than in the frenzied hatred of war.  Though, for sure, it is all far from perfect, far from fair, still so far from the paradise we lost.

The problem for me is that I have to be careful not to take sides in a nationalistic sort of way - which is not always easy. I try to support various athletes from various nationalities in various different disciplines, which I hope meets our Creator's standards of impartiality. And I genuinely do want them all to do well - they work so hard and it means so much to them.

August, Midnight

An August Midnight (1901)
Thomas Hardy


I

A shaded lamp and a waving blind,
And the beat of a clock from a distant floor:
On this scene enter—winged, horned, and spined—
A longlegs, a moth, and a dumbledore;
While ‘mid my page there idly stands
A sleepy fly, that rubs its hands…

II

Thus meet we five, in this still place,
At this point of time, at this point in space.
—My guests parade my new-penned ink,
Or bang at the lamp-glass, whirl and sink.
“God’s humblest, they!” I muse. Yet why?
They know Earth-secrets that know not I.

https://www.poetrybyheart.org.uk/poems/an-august-midnight/



What they know, I do not know, but surely they have thoughts and feelings. They are not clockwork toys. But they ARE telling us of their Grand Creator as clearly as if they spoke.  After all, we know what goes in to make a clockwork toy - they do not just happen. And these are so much more than that.

Thursday morning, Captain M-B left early with Jim and friends for a Field Somewhere on detecting business. And it was a very noisy day, with the gardeners roaring away with hedge trimmers and the scaffolders clanking outside the window. We are now netted in, so the moth trap/hotel is in retirement until the scaffolding comes down.

 
I came huffing and puffing back from my Gym lesson with my kind and patient young physio on Thursday to find a splendid box of flowers waiting for us. They were from a sister in the congregation, and they were a comforting present because of the loss of my field service partner Jean.

I have put them in some lovely pots that my best  friend of our expat years, Anne Marie, made for us.  

The Governing Body says that we will be restarting the door to door preaching work on September 1st. After over two years away from it, doing letter witnessing, it makes me very nervous. But I will have to remember Paul's words at Acts 20:20: "I did not hold back from telling you any of the things that were profitable nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house."

From house to house.  And that is how the truth came to me - Christianity being called "the way of the truth" - all those years ago, when Ruby and Wilhelmina knocked at my door in my Northern hometown.

The Script for the School

There was a Lime-speck Pug on our wall this morning. Hopefully the scaffolding is discouraging the moth-eating magpie.

This was the script for my part in the Ministry School last Thursday.  It was the Bible Study and we - my Bible student and I - were going through the Summary in Lesson 5 of Enjoy Life Forever.  https://www.jw.org/en/library/books/enjoy-life-forever/

We had 5 minutes, and were just under time I think.

Sue: Now we have finished the chapter The Bible is God’s Message to Us, it will help us to go through this short summary. It starts with this point, that some people say: “The Bible is just an old book written by humans.” And if you remember we talked about how both of us were among those people. Neither of us was brought up to believe that the Bible is the word of our Creator.

Student: Well no. I never saw it that way.

Sue: I am hoping that, like me, studying it has made you change your mind. So I would love to know how you feel now, especially in view of the chapter we are just finishing.

Student. I do feel differently. For one thing I had no idea what the Bible actually said. And what it does say is starting to make sense.

Sue, I am so glad to hear you say that. And has the evidence we studied in this chapter helped to make this change?

Student: Yes. I was truly surprised when I realised how much opposition there has been to the Bible message - that video about William Tyndale and how he was killed because he just wanted people to find out for themselves what the Bible says really did make me think.

Sue: It was very powerful wasn’t it? We read Psalm 119:97. Lovely words. Would you like to read them now and remind us.

Student reads Psalm 119:97 "How I do love your law! I ponder over it all day long."

Sue: Like the Psalmist, William Tyndale knew and loved Jehovah’s law and he wanted others to come to know and love it too. So with that in mind, could we briefly look at these 3 questions. The first is What does it mean when we say that God inspired men to write the Bible?

Student: The book mentioned the way an employer dictates a letter to a secretary. The secretary may write or type it, but the message comes from the employer. So God inspired all these different men to write down his message.

Sue. Exactly. Well-remembered. And following on from that the next question is: What impresses you about the Bible’s survival, translation, and distribution?

Student: When you were showing me that the Bible is the most widely translated and distributed book in the world, that did surprise me because it seems it should not even be here at all, as it has had such powerful opponents, from both church and state. It seems a miracle it is still here!

Sue. That is such a good point. Because it is a miracle. Without Jehovah protecting it, how could it have survived such fierce and powerful opposition? But because he has protected it and made sure it is readily available to all, every one of us has a chance to hear his loving message to us. So I would love to know how does it make you feel that Jehovah has made such loving efforts to communicate with you?

Student: Grateful of course. And it makes me feel valued, I realise that he does care for me, for us. And it also makes me want to learn more about him.

Sue: I am so thrilled to hear that. And if you notice, the goal set out for the end of this chapter is to begin reading the Bible regularly, using the Chart mentioned. Do you think you would consider making a start on that. Only the more you study the Bible and the more you try to apply what it says, the more you will see how good it is, and become more and more convinced that it truly is God’s word.

Student: Yes, I think I should do.

Sue: If you look here on the inner cover, under the heading Get Started reading the Bible, it has some good ideas to get you started. Here it suggests that you choose a topic that interests you - and lists some ideas and appropriate Scriptures. For example wisdom for daily living - wisdom in the area of family, friendships and work - all things that can be difficult in today’s world.

Student. Thanks, that’s a good idea.

And, of course, the best  way to find out if the Bible truly is Jehovah's message to us is to study it, find out what it actually does say, and apply it.  Only by doing that can you find out how much Jehovah loves us and wants to help us.  And all during Lockdown, the worldwide congregation has kept helping us to do that, with regular meetings and teaching.  And please remember that all are welcome at our meetings.

Captain M-B started his work at the archaeological dig on Tuesday and was out a long time as he went on a SUSSAR search straight afterwards.  We are watching, and enjoying, the Commonwealth Games at the moment, and I am getting back into my meeting and field service routines.

I also have some writing work to continue - as we had a week of creative writing. I am wondering about posting some of my short stories in the blog.