Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great

by Stevie Smith

Honour and magnify this man of men

Who keeps a wife and seven children on two pounds ten

Paid weekly in an envelope

And yet he never has abandoned hope.

I was reminded of this poem by a post on fb on Tuesday, one posted by one of my great-nieces.  It said:

If a monkey hoarded more bananas than it could eat, while most of the other monkey starved, scientists would study that monkey to find out what was wrong with it. When humans do it, we put them on the cover of Forbes.

And, yes, we are encouraged - by the world and its media - to adulate the super rich and what I suppose could be called "the designer label" culture.  But why, in a world in which some people work all their lives, yet never know what it is not to be hungry?  Shouldn't we admire those who cope with such difficulties, such a struggle, for their courage, for their fortitude?  So I remembered the poem in which Stevie asked us to admire and honour such a person.

And here is some perfect advice, from the very Source of wisdom, our Creator, Jehovah:

Do not love either the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him; because everything in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the showy display of one’s means of life—does not originate with the Father, but originates with the world. Furthermore, the world is passing away and so is its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever. - 1 John 2:15-17

Would it be fair to say that the Designer Label culture is all about making a showy display of our means of life? The present wicked system of things on the earth will soon be passing away.  We need to stand clear of it, and resist all the world's efforts to push or persuade us off the "narrow road" that leads to life. And we need to warn others,

On Tuesday I zoomed with a couple of friends in the morning, and made a wokful of veggie curry in the afternoon as I had rather  a lot of veggies left over. I had a blood test on Wednesday morning, and two more Zoom sessions, morning and afternoon.

What did we do before Zoom came along?

I couldn't find a King Alfred in Col's photo gallery, but I did find a King Angelfish which will have to do.  It looks very fierce and kingly.  And I do not think I would like to fall out with it.