Studying and Poems

Not able to do much at the moment as everything makes me cough, so I thought I might say something about the book we are just starting in our current Bible study- and also perhaps add a favourite poem, hoping someone else will like it.

Captain Butterfly just rang. He and the Butterfly regiments are off on the hunt for the long-tailed blue - so I added an extra piece of cake to his packed lunch for Mark.  And no sooner had I put the phone down than the garage rang to say that the Captain's car, which has been in intensive care for over a week, is ready to leave hospital.   Thank goodness for that.

Though even now I have my car back... I don't see how I can get out on the doors and cough and sneeze all over people - or go to the Hall and cough and sneeze all over my siblings. So I will be housebound for a bit yet.

The poem I have in mind is one I have always loved.  Its called "The Bridal Morn" - no-one knows the author.  It is in the Anonymous section of my "New Oxford Book of English Verse."

But what a wonderful amazing thing language is.  This feels likes a voice from the past, from centuries ago, speaking to me as clearly as it did then.


The Bridal Morn
by anon

The maidens came
     When I was in my mother's bower;
I had all that I would.
     The bailey beareth the bell away;
     The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
The silver is white, red is the gold;
The robes, they lay in fold.
     The bailey beareth the bell away;
     The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.
And through the glass window shines the sun.
How should I love, and I so young?
     The bailey beareth the bell away;
     The lily, the rose, the rose I lay.


Girls could be married so young then - as is still the case in so many parts of the world.


In harmony with Hebrews 6:12, which tells us to  "be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises"  we constantly study the Hebrew Scriptures, along with the Christian Greek, and now the congregations worldwide are embarking on a deeper study, to help us to learn even more from the faithful men and women of old.

The book we are using is "Imitate their Faith".  We are beginning with a study of Abel.  Paul said, at Hebrews 11:4:  "By faith Abel offered God a sacrifice of greater worth than that of Cain, and through that faith he received the witness that he was righteous, for God approved his gifts, and although he died, he still speaks through his faith."

So we taking an even closer look at what his faith is saying to us.

And the chapter begins this way:

"ABEL looked at his flock of sheep grazing peacefully on the hillside. Then, perhaps he looked far beyond his sheep to a spot in the distance where he could just make out a faint glow. He knew that right there a flaming blade was turning, ever turning, blocking the way into the garden of Eden. His parents once lived there, but neither they nor their children could enter now. Imagine the late afternoon breeze ruffling Abel’s hair as he turned his gaze upward and thought about his Creator. Would the breach between man and God ever be healed? Abel wanted nothing more than that.

Abel speaks to you today. Can you hear him? You might say that such a thing is impossible. After all, this second son of Adam died a long time ago. His remains are long lost, mingled with the dust of nearly 60 centuries. Regarding the dead, the Bible teaches us: “They are conscious of nothing at all.” (Eccl. 9:5, 10) Further, Abel never uttered a single word that is recorded in the Bible. So how can he speak to us?"

If you would like to know more, you can join your local JW congregation meetings. This book is studied at the weekday meeting which is usually held on a Tuesday or a Thursday evening.  You could also ask your local congregation for a copy of the book.

Jehovah inspired and protected his word so that we could learn from it.