Her Indoors

I have been Her Indoors again today - resting my legs and feet from the rigours of last week - while Captain B has been flying around various butterfly sites photographing newly hatched flying things.   And now I have been so busy watching "Britain's Best Dish" that I have overcooked the baked apples for our tea.

Audrey and I went out yesterday, on territory new to us both.  We and 4 others worked three little closes that I didn't even know existed.  There wasn't enough territory for an hour so Audrey and I did half an hour, and, while the others went off on return visits we went to Sainsburys as Audrey need to get some things in, and she doesn't drive.

David, an internet friend from Oz, has got in touch again and we are in discussion.  And I sent off a third email to Anne on The Cape as a continuing answer to her questions about whether or not Christians are required to tithe.

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A Hollywood Emergency!

I am busy trying to make an appointment with the arthritis nurse for a... I keep wanting to say "a silicon injection" - but that would be for a Hollywood style emergency.  I think I must be requiring a steroid injection. Hopefully she will know.  IF I can get hold of her.  This is an arthritis emergency.  I am seizing up - and very painfully so too.

Anyway, I was able to get out and do a share of the Invitation work.   The Memorial of Jesus Death last night was beautifully kept - all over the world.  Our Kingdom Hall was so full that the brothers had to stand at the back.

The talk was clear and powerful.  The bread and the wine were passed, although I don't think we have anyone who takes it in our congregation.   And I had Captain B beside me to hold my hand during the prayers, which made it an even more special day.

The valiant Maggie had kept two seats for us.

What I have been wondering is if, after Armageddon, and Paradise is being restored, will we be asked to go on keeping some form of commemoration on Nisan the 14th?  Or not?

I hope I am there to find out.

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An Invitation to Lobbs Wood

Lobbs Wood is in the process of being transformed into its lush summertime self.  We were walking there this afternoon.     When Audrey rang she said that she and her field service group had been delivering Memorial invitations in that area.   Jean and I were in the next district East, and had a road to ourselves.  We did about an hour and a quarter, and got some nice responses to the invite.

It made us both happy to think of all our brothers and sisters worldwide delivering the same invitations.

I am trying to find out from all my email acquaintances if they have had their invite yet.

The Captain and I did a big shop at Tesco's.

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The Ishtar Bunny

The Encyclopædia Britannica comments: “There is no indication of the observance of the Easter festival in the New Testament, or in the writings of the apostolic Fathers. The sanctity of special times was an idea absent from the minds of the first Christians.”—(1910), Vol. VIII, p. 828.

The Catholic Encyclopedia tells us: “A great many pagan customs, celebrating the return of spring, gravitated to Easter. The egg is the emblem of the germinating life of early spring. . . . The rabbit is a pagan symbol and has always been an emblem of fertility.”—(1913), Vol. V, p. 227.

In the book The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, we read: “What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, . . . as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar. . . . Such is the history of Easter. The popular observances that still attend the period of its celebration amply confirm the testimony of history as to its Babylonian character. The hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter Sunday, figured in the Chaldean rites just as they do now.”—(New York, 1943), pp. 103, 107, 108; compare Jeremiah 7:18.

(Extracted from "Reasoning From the Scriptures", published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society)

Jeremiah 7:18 says:  "The sons are picking up sticks of wood, and the fathers are lighting the fire, and the wives are kneading flour dough in order to make sacrificial cakes to the ‘queen of the heavens’; and there is a pouring out of drink offerings to other gods for the purpose of offending me."

So when the Israelites turned to goddess worship it offended the true God, Jehovah.  And the Christian Greek Scriptures tell us that everything written down in the Hebrew Scriptures is for our instruction. We must learn from it.

“ALL the things that were written aforetime were written for our instruction, that through our endurance and through the comfort from the Scriptures we might have hope.” (Romans 15:4)

So we don't celebrate Easter - but we memorialise Jesus'  death as the Bible asks us to do.

The furry fellow in the photo is no Easter/Ishtar bunny - just a fluffy little chap who lives on The Downs. And I hope very much he still does.  Col tells me there were some birds of prey circling.

My blog is nothing but moaning at the moment, as I am suffering this morning from having been out for two hours with young Ronald - note the "young", i.e. his feet and legs work properly - delivering invitations to The Memorial.  We had a lovely time though and talked and talked as we went round.  I did little else but rest my feet when I got back.

I hope to be out again this morning, if I can get the body to work.  Its a grey old day and The Channel is either lost in a sort of sea fret or is so much the same colour as the sky its hard to tell where it starts and ends.

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Bluebell Woods

We spent the afternoon in the bluebell woods.   Another reminder that Paradise will be restored.

In the morning Maggie and I did her magazine route, with the Memorial invitations, and I tried to find some of my not at homes at home, without success.

Its the Ministry School at the Hall tonight.

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Addering

To Mill Hill with Col this morning as he was determined I should see a black adder, even though it was cold and overcast.  We made our way along a precipitous chalky path and down a horrendous slope, and finally found one little black fellow streaming through the grass and under the brambles.

So now I have seen a black adder.   I thought he looked young, fresh and glossy and hope he has a happy life ahead of him.

Came back, had our sandwiches, fell asleep on sofa but managed to drag myself to the kitchen to make us a curry dinner (veggie).

Am just off to do  my studying - looking forward to Springwatch which starts tonight - and I did manage to email two invites to the Memorial on Sunday - one to Lilian and one to Linda - both friends from Planet Expat.

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Three Pictures

Lying on the bed yesterday morning - exhausted from the tremendous effort of having a shower and getting dressed - I was looking at 3 of the paintings we have in the bedroom.  They are all of woods - seen from an angle that cuts the tops off the trees.   One is by Susan Alison, and it is of the edges of a wood - there is a bit of fence - its in sepia tones, with lots of pale sky showing through the trees.  It is a welcome home present from Penny and George - welcome home from our 25 years of expatting.   The second is of much denser woodland - tree trunks seen through tree trunks.  It is by my dear Aged Father and is of Poland's Bialowieza Forest - the ancient woodland which straddles the border between Poland and Belarus.  He was a child of those fields and forests.  The third one is by Ken - Ken Reah, my brother in law - and is of Endcliffe Vale Park - the strip of water and woodland that runs almost from the city centre to the moors at Ringinglow, It is a place with layer upon layer of memories for me, as perhaps the Bialowieza Forest was for my father.

And of course all three pictures make me think of the Paradise earth to come - and how unimaginably lovely it is going to be.

Captain B has bought home some video of adders - a fighting and a courting.   They move like water.

He is having a wonderful time now the weather is so good - able to spend all day outside.

Audrey and I had a morning on the doors.  I was able to deliver all my magazines for April - together with the Memorial invitations.  We  did a return visit each, and we went to the Bank and Audrey did her shopping.

We are at the Kingdom Hall for an hour tonight to do our Watchtower Bible study as there will be no meeting on Sunday morning because it is the day of The Memorial.

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