The Memorial

Not at Home to Callers 

 by Emily Dickinson

Not at Home to Callers 

Says the Naked Tree -- 

Bonnet due in April -- 

Wishing you Good Day --

https://www.poetrysoup.com/famous/poems/short/april

Bonnet due in April! Great. Yet another poem I wish I had written.  

I have often wanted to write about how beautiful the "naked trees" of winter are - exquisite sculptures every one.  Yet to see a human skeleton... a very different thing, even though it is of course wonderfully made. There has to be a poem in that, if I could only find it.  It is a thought that also ties in with the Memorial celebrations, held worldwide on Thursday night, after sunset.  Because all of us damaged children of Adam are dying.  We need to have that link so fatally broken in Eden restored. And that restoration comes through the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ - a superlative gift of love from Jehovah and from Jesus.

The photo above is of a Saffrondrop Bonnet fungus.  With the thought of Emily's poem in mind, I put the word "bonnet" into Col's gallery and this is one of the photos it came up with.

This elegant Bonnet is yet another miracle of beauty and engineering - telling us of the love and wisdom and power that went into the earthly creation.

The Memorial Bible reading continues.  And I am thinking a lot about the rescue the ransom sacrifice of Jesus holds out to all of us if we will only take hold of it.  Wednesday was a day when I was able to be busy with the Kingdom preaching work: my Bible student in the morning, and a double zoom field service session in the afternoon - doing Not Home letters and emails.

Thursday, Himself left very early for The Field. The Sandwich Fairy had done her stuff, so even at that early hour, his sandwiches were ready.  My plan for Thursday, as I am beginning this blog, is to attend the morning worship at 9:30 via pixel, if the Zoom facility is on, and get to the Memorial in the evening.  If all goes to plan, it is the one day of the year that Col is at the Kingdom Hall with me, and I can hold his hand during the prayer.

During the day I hope to have made his crumble, curried the mushrooms, done some studying, a bit more witnessing and some housework.  (And done a fair amount of sofa surfing...)  But we shall see...

Morning worship was lovely, discussing the day text, which is Luke 12:32: Have no fear, little flock, for your Father has approved of giving you the Kingdom

All plans for Thursday were carried out, including the sofa-surfing. And I had Col beside me at the Hall last night as we celebrated the Memorial of Jesus's sacrificial death.  As there were four short prayers altogether, I was able to hold his hand four times.

The text for today is this:  God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.​—John 3:16.

Which kind of says it all really.  And explains why we want to memorialise this great and loving gift.