June

 

Adlestrop

By Edward Thomas

Yes. I remember Adlestrop—

The name, because one afternoon

Of heat the express-train drew up there

Unwontedly. It was late June.

The steam hissed. Someone cleared his throat.

No one left and no one came

On the bare platform. What I saw

Was Adlestrop—only the name

And willows, willow-herb, and grass,

And meadowsweet, and haycocks dry,

No whit less still and lonely fair

Than the high cloudlets in the sky.

And for that minute a blackbird sang

Close by, and round him, mistier,

Farther and farther, all the birds

Of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/53744/adlestrop

A poem that makes me want to cry for the beauty of the world, the English summer moment that it evokes.

What to say about June so far.  It began for me with a day of Bible teaching, by Zoom, at our Circuit Assembly.  I seem to have picked up a format here, which I  might keep for this blog, it looks quite neat.

The theme of the Circuit Assembly was: Behave in a Manner Worthy of the Good News, and the theme Scripture was Philippians 1:27: Only behave in a manner worthy of the good news about the Christ, so that whether I come and see you or I am absent, I may hear about you and learn that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one soul, striving side by side for the faith of the good news.

Once you hear the good news of the Kingdom of God, of all it will do for us here on the earth, it changes us. We must try, and keep trying, to live as citizens of that heavenly government, to live by its perfect and loving standards (as best us damaged children of Adam can at the moment).  And we feel the urgent need to tell all who will listen about it.

One idea I have gleaned from the Assembly is to regularly study the brochure: LOVE PEOPLE, MAKE DISCIPLES.  And I have been given a good idea by one of the young pioneers, to work on one of the qualities for a month, then go on to the next chapter and the next quality.

Therefore, I should be starting with: Interest in Others. Not something I am very good at, as mainly I am nervous of others and wish to avoid them.  Obviously I have learnt a lot better during my years being taught by Jehovah, but there is still a long way to go, so who knows...

Col was home at the next computer, and he chose a programme about dinosaurs to watch with lunch.  

My cataract treatment is beginning to loom on the near horizon and is making me very nervous.  I have a lot of medical stuff this month, none of which I am looking forward to.   Anyway, if the cataracts work, maybe I will be able to go back to posting my blogs in smaller print.

The photos above are by Captain Butterfly of course - and are of Willowherb and Meadowsweet.  And there is a storm on the Channel this morning - wonderful waves, and the trees in our garden are waving madly in the wind.